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TEMPERANCE ESSAYS, 



AND 



uUctxons itom mxifnent jtwffctfrs, 



COLLECTED AND EDITED BY 

EDWARD C. DELAVAN, 

SOUTH BALLSTON, N. Y. 



FOURTH EDITION. 




PUBLISHED BY 
THE NATIONAL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY AND PUBLICATION HOUSE, 

172 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK. 



T&- 



Copy of Resolution adopted by the Board of Managers of the National Temperance 
Society and Publication House, at a meeting held January, 1S66. 

JBwo fewl — Hilt this Board recognize in the collection of Temperance Essays of 
E. C. Delavan a book of very great importance and value to the present state of the 
Temperance Cause, and we earnestly and cordially adopt it as one of the publications 
of this Society, and recommend measures be taken to give it a wide circulation. 

JAMES B. DUXN, Becording Secretary* 






CONTENTS. 



PAGB 

Tract 1. Presidential Declarations, etc . . 7 

Address to the Army of the United States 11 

2. The Pathology of Drunkenness, illustrated with Dr. Sew- 

all' s Plates 17 

3. Comparative Temperance View of England's Commerce, 

Taxation, and Charities 21 

Adulterations of Wine. Extract from Dr. Nott's Sixth 

Lecture on Temperance 28 

4. Prohibition in Great Britain 29 

The Light "Wine Delusion 31 

Kesponsibility of Moderate Drinkers, more especially of 

Christian Moderate Drinkers, whether in Church or State 32 

Manifesto of the United Kingdom Alliance to its Mem- 
bers and Adherents throughout the Nation 33 

Resolutions of a Conference of Alliance Friends in 

London 36 

Address to Members of Parliament 37 

5. The American Temperance Movement 41 

6. Letter to General J. H. Cocke, of Virginia, on the Com- 

munion Question 53 ' 

General Cocke's Letter in Reply 64 

Extract from a Letter by Hon. Neal Dow 66 

Extracts from Father Mathew's Speeches 66 

7. Letters of E. C. Delavan Relative to Communion Wine 67 

Wherein Consists the Difference ? 100 

8. A Condensed Report of the Trial of the Cause of John Tay- 

lor vs. E. C. Delavan, for an alleged Libel 103 

9. Letter to the President of the "Woman's National Cov- 

enant." 129 

Bishop Potter, on the Drinking Usages of Society 130 

Extracts from the Westminster Review 134 

Dr. Nott, on the Adulteration of Liquors 135 

Extract from Cowper's Essay on Charity 137 

Comparison between the Dangers arising from Railroad 

Travel and the Liquor Trade, etc 140 



IV CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Tract 10. Temperance of Wine Countries 141 

11. A Thrilling Scene, illustrating Moderate Drinking 161 

Another 163 

To Truth-Seekers 164 

Trial of John Burnett for Murder 166 

"Words of Wisdom from Great and Wise Men 167 

The Little Golden-Haired Boy and his Elder Brother 169 

Note by the Executive Committee of the New York State 

Temperance Society, relating to Dr. Sewall's Plates, etc. 171 

Demoralization of the Rebel Armies 172 

Franklin a Water-Drinker 174 

12. Letter from Mr. Delavan to Governor King 175 

13. Temperance Lecture No. XI., by Dr. Nott 187 9 

14. Extract from President Nott's Lecture No. IX 199 

15. Sketch by the Hon. Wm. H. Seward 207 

The Use and Abuse of Alcoholic Liquors in Health and 

Disease, by Dr. Carpenter 209 

Lord Byron , < 210 

16. Chipman's Beport on the Poor-Houses, Jails, and Orphan 

Asylums of the State of New York 211 

A Short Sermon from the Old Testament 216 

" " " " " New " „.. 217 

17. Temperance, a Source of National Wealth. 218 

18. Reduction in Rate of Insurance on Temperance Ships 230 

A Good Creature of God 235 

19. The "London Star" and "London Times' ' on Temper- 

ance, etc 236 

The Influence of Wine-Drinking, Hundreds of Centuries 
before the Art of Distilling was known 242 

20. Schedule of Bible Texts relative to Wine 243 

21. Summary of the Temperance Scripture Argument, con- 

densed from the Works of Dr. Lees 255 

Views of Richard Cobden, M. P., on Total Abstinence. . . 267 

22. Dr. Higgenbottom, of England, on Constitutional Diffi- 

culties 269 

23. Pathology of Drunkenness ; or, the Physical Effects of Al- 

coholic Drinks, by Dr. Sewall '. . 273 

The Expediency Doctrine Explained and Vindicated .... 307 

Remarks on Dr. Sewall's Letter 308 

24. Doctors and Drink 310 



MOTTOES. 

(From the English Edition of Dr. Nott's Work, &c.) 

" Bias, by importing its own foregone conclusions into the "Word of Scrip- 
ture, and by refusing to see, or to acknowledge, what makes against its own 
prejudices, has proved the greatest known hindrance to all fair interpreta- 
tion, and has tended, more than anything else in the world, to check the 
free course of Divine truth.* 5 Bishop Ellicott. 

cc Why refuse homage to just that part of the Divine wisdom to which our 
own depravity cares not to consent?- 5 Dr. Steudel. 

<( Even now, after eighteen centuries of Christianity, we may be involved 
in some tremendous error, of which the Christianity of the future will make 
us ashamed.*" Tixet. 

"Each age of the Church has, as it were, turned over a new leaf in the 
Bible, and found a response to its own wants. We have a leaf still to turn — 
a leaf not the less new because it is so simple. 5 ' 

A. P. Stanley, D. D. 

<e History leaves no doubt, that amongst the great moral and social influ- 
ences that preceded the Advent of Christ, a temperance sentiment and reform- 
ation must be numbered. It is now as of old. The Church can conquer vice 
by becoming 'a city set on a hill 5 — lifted up visibly to a living moral eleva- 
tion, which shall stand out in unmistakable contrast to the worldly, sensual 
conduce of existing profession — and in no other way. An abiding sense of 
religious duty is only possible under the reign of true temperance ; since the 
spirit of wine is essentiallv incompatible with the influence of the Divine 
Spirit. UXTIL THE CHURCH LEARNS THIS TRUTH, ITS HISTORY 
WILL BE ONE OF ALTERNATE CONQUEST AND COLLAPSE— OF 
SPASMODIC SUCCESS INSTEAD OE CONTINUOUS ADVANCE." 

Dr. F. R. Lees. 

"The progress of Temperance science is like that of other branches of 
science, speculative and practical. At whatever point science conflicts with 
prejudice, ignorance, interest, appetite, or superstition, it will excite the 
hostility of the human mind darkened by these influences. Chemistry, 
astronomy, geography, political economy, geology, and even such movements 
as those organized for the circulation of the Bible and the extinction of 
slavery, have all in turn had to pass through the ordeal of sharp, acrid, and 
continuous controversy; each in turn has been virulently opposed on biblical 
or on religious grounds ; and each in turn has taken its place amongst the 
settled verities of the universe, or the moral and social necessities of the age. 
Some may lament all this ; I do not, but accept it as the providential and 
necessary method for the development of truth and the enlargement of the 
human soul. Life is a battle, and the advent of truth as certainly brings 
the sword of controversy into play for the destruction of error and its bane- 
ful practices, as it ultimately brings a peaceful harvest of positive blessings. 
It is weakness and folly, if not cowardice, for the friends of -light to decline 
the inevitable conflict. Sooner or later every question must be probed to 
the bottom — and why not this? 55 — Ibid. 



TO THE 



FRIENDS OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE 
AND PROHIBITION.- 



Permit me to inscribe to you the following pages, consisting 
of articles before published, now republished, and bound to- 
gether, for preservation, free distribution, or sale. 

I am almost daily in receipt of letters asking for temperance 
publications ; I see in this an indication of a general move- 
ment throughout the country. My stock is exhausted ; I have 
not a copy to one in fifty of the publications issued by the Al- 
bany Temperance Press during the thirty-five years it has 
been at work. I have thought a publication like this might 
be of some value, as a kind of text-book. In each of the 
articles something may be found of use to those seeking light, 
on one of the most important, moral and religious questions of 
this or any other age, being, as I believe, immediately con- 
nected with the building up of the Saviour's Kingdom on 
earth, and the welfare and happiness of the human race. 

EDWARD C. DELAVAN 

South Ballston, N. Y., July 4, 1864. 



hsto. 1. 



PRESIDENTIAL DECLARATIONS, ETC. 

Being satisfied from observation and experience, as -well as from medical 
testimony, that Ardent Spirit, as a drink, is not only needless, but hurt- 
ful, and that the entire disuse of it would tend to promote the health, the 
virtue, and the happiness of the community, we hereby express our convic- 
tion, that should the citizens of the United States, and especially the young 
men, discontinue entirely the use of it, they would not only promote their 
own personal benefit, but the good of our country and the world. 
JAMES MADISON, JOHN TYLER, 

ANDREW JACKSON, Z. TAYLOR, 

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, MILLARD FILLMORE, 

M. VAN BUREN, JAMES K. POLK, 

FRANKLIN PIERCE, JAMES BUCHANAN, 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, ANDREW JOHNSON. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Albany, December 1, 1862. 
To the Chaplain, (if none) to the Colonel, Lieut. Colonel, or any Officer 

in the Regiment : 

The object in sending this parcel of 500 of the Appeal is, to place a copy 
in the hands of every Officer and Soldier in your Regiment. Parcels are 
made up for all Regiments. I make no suggestion as to the manner of dis- 
tribution, but would respectfully recommend, that before making it, the 
following letters, and the certificate above, should be read to the companies 
or the Regiment. 

The certificate of eleven Presidents I deem interesting as well as instructive. 
When I obtained the signatures of the first three, about thirty years since, 
by a personal visit to each, the movement against Alcohol, as a beverage, 
was confined to distilled spirit : then the impression was general that 
fermented drinks were safe, in moderation; but science has since settled the 
question, that Alcohol is exactly the same poison, in what are termed fer- 
mented drinks, as in distilled; indeed, that in both, it is formed by fermen- 
tation, and that there would be no impropriety in calling all kinds of intox- 
icating drinks ardent spirits. Pure brandy is distilled from wine, and should 
be called distilled wine. 

It would be very gratifying to be informed as to the result of this effort tt 
promote the cause of Temperance in the Army. 

Respectfully, yours, 

EDWARD C. DELAVAN. 

Note. — The edition for the army having been printed, it lias been suggested that 
this document might do good outside the ca?np ; when thus distributed, may I not hope 
those receiving it, after perusal, will preserve and circulate it, E. C. D. 



8 LETTERS FROM PROMINENT GENTLEMEN, 

Extract of a letter from Maj. Gen. Bix. 

Fort Monroe, November 1, 1862. 
My Dear Sir: — I decidedly approve of your intention to publish for 
circulation, such an address to the army as you describe. Let it be short. 

I am sincerely yours, 
Edward C. Delay an, Esq. JOHN A. DIX. 

Letter from Lieut. Gen. Scott. 

New York, November 11, 1862. 

My Dear Sir: — Much indisposed, and yet much occupied, I have read 
your excellent address to the army, which, I hope, may be read and re-read 
by every officer and man in it. It could not fail to do much good to efficiency 
and moral discipline ; for drinking and drunkenness, among the rank and 
file of an army, soon become one and the same thing, and drunkenness 
destroys subordination, discipline and efficiency. 

My sentiments on this subject cannot be too strongly stated, and conse- 
quently I do not object to your quotation of a remark of mine many years 
ago. With the greatest esteem, truly yours, 

E. C. Delayan, Esq. WINFIELD SCOTT. 

Archbishop Hughes writes : 

ei I approve highly of the purpose to which your tract is devoted, viz : the 
diminution, if not the abolition, of intemperance in the army and every- 
where else." 

Note. — At the last interview I had with this venerable man, now no more, he said 
to me : "I have read all your publications, and approve of all the principles you have 
advanced, except one, and that is not as important to the Roman Catholic church as 
lu the Protestant." I stated to him that it had been one of the devices of my oppo- 
nents, to place me, if possible, in a false position before, the public, and then hold me 
to it, as if it was really mine. To what point do you refer? He replied, "the 
Communion question." This good man really had received the idea that I was 
opposed to the use of wine at the Lord's Supper. When I stated to him that such a 
thought had never entered into my head; that inasmuch as the proof was positive 
that at the time the Lord's Supper was instituted, various kinds of wine were recog- 
nized, good and bad ; intoxicating wine, " the mooker," the unintoxicating,a blessing. 
I expressed a belief that the unintoxicating was more suitable for use on an occasion 
so sacred. The Archbishop at once replied in the most emphatic manner, "You are 
right." [May 2, 1864-] 

Letter from Rev. Br, Nott, President of Union College. 
E. C. Delavan, Esq. — My Dear Sir: — Your " address " to the army hag 
been received and read to me, and meets my entire approbation. My prayer 
is, that it may be blessed to every officer and soldier. 

Very truly your friend, 
Union College, Nov. 17, 1862. ELIPEPT NOTT. 



Letter from Rev. Br. Wayland, of the Baptist denomination. 

Providence, November 18, 1862. 
My Dear Mr. Delavan : — I have read your address to our army with the 
deepest interest. Its facts are as unanswerable as its arguments are con- 
vincing. I hope that it may be extensively read by all the army, both officers 
and men, and that the Spirit of God may attend it with a blessing from on 
high. May it thus tend to stay the ravages of intemperance, which I fear 
a.re awful among our soldiers. 

I am, my dear Mr. Delavan, yours truly, 
E. C. Delavan, Esq. E. WAYLAND. 



LETTERS FROM PROMINENT GENTLEMEN. 9 

Letter from Rt. Rev. Bishop Mcllvainc, of Ohio. 

Cincinnati, November 21, 1862. 
My Dear Sir : — I am thankful that anybody of influence will labor to 
promote temperance in the army; but especially thai; a gentleman of your 
thorough acquaintance with the subject, and experience in the modus oper- 
andi, is so engaged. We hear much of want of discipline in the men, and 
of efficiency in the omcers-*-of surprises, and stragglers, and prisoners taken 
when they should not be, and of many still worse evils. "What hand drink 
h&s in all of them — drink, with or without intoxication, who can measure ? 
I hope, dear sir, you will carry out your plan of circulating the well prepared 
address of which you have sent me a copy; and may Grod bless it with great 
ncefulness among those to whose devotedness to their country we are all so 
indebted. Yours, very respectfully, 

CHAS. P. McILVAINE. 



Letter from the Rt. Rev. Bishop McCloskey, of Albany,N. Y. 

Albany, November 24, 1862. 
My Dear Mr. Delavan : — I have read with much interest your earnest 
appeal addressed to the officers and soldiers of our army, in favor of temper- 
ance ; and I most sincerely hope that it may be productive of beneficial results. 
It is not to be doubted that there is hardly any evil to which the soldier is 
more exposed — hardly any more dangerous and fatal, either in tent or field — 
than the terrible evil of intemperance. And it is equally undoubted, that 
its surest preventive as well as only effectual remedy, after God's grace, is 
total abstinence from the use of all intoxicating drinks. 
With best wishes and regards, I remain, Dear Sir, 

Your friend and obed't servant in Xt., 
E. C. Delavan, Esq. f JOHN, Bp. of Albany. 

Note — There appears to be but one feeling, and that of gratification, on the part 
of Protestants as well as Catholics, that the mantle of Archbishop Hughes is to fall 
upon Bishop McCloskey. It will be perceived that this Reverend Ecclesiastic takes 
the ground that k ' Total Abstinence" is the only cure for the mighty evil under 
which the world totters and groans. [May 2, 1S64.] 



Letter from Hon. Erastus Corning, M. C. 

Albany, November 25, 1862. 
Edw. C. Delavan, Esq. — My Dear Sir. — I have perused your appeal to 
the Army, and approve of it. If you carry out the plan for its circulation 
as suggested, I doubt not great good will follow. 

Your assured friend, 

ERASTUS CORNING. 



Note from Hon. Ira Harris, U. S. Senator. 

Albany, November 25, 1862. 
I most cordially and earnestly unite in commending the effort which Mr. 
Delavan is about making to reduce and mitigate the evils of intemperance in 
the Army. IRA HARRIS. 

From the Rev. Dr. E. S. Janes, Bishop of the M. E. Church. 

New York, Dec. 1, 1862. 
E. C. Delavan, Esq. — My Dear Sir. — I deem the circulation of your 
<e Address to the Army of the United States " of the highest importance to 
the welfare of the soldiers. It furnishes to them what they much need and 



10 LETTERS FROM PROMINENT GENTLEMEN. 

strongly desire — iC Something to read." It also gives them a timely, judi- 
cious and friendly warning of a terrible peril to which they are all seriously 
exposed. I believe the army will appreciate your philanthropy in favoring 
them with the document. Yours, with much esteem, 

E..S. JANES. 



Letter from the Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, Episcopal Bishop of Penn. 

My Dear Mr. Delavan: — I hive received your " Appeal to the Army." 
It is most seasonable. What untold and incalculable disasters, disgrace and 
death would have been averted, if our entire army, officers and men, had 
acted on the principle of Total Abstinence. The evil is most alarming, 
and threatens, in the future, consequences to the nation and to families 
which cannot be measured. May God bless your effort to arrest it. 

Yours faithfully, 

Philadelphia, Dec. 10, 1862. ALONZO POTTER. 



Letter from the Rev. Dr. Hawes, of the Congregationalists. 

Hartford, Dec. 31, 1862. 
My Dear Mr. Delavan : — Your excellent and timely address to the army 
of the United States, which I have just read, has my entire approbation. 
Let it have the widest circulation both in and outside of the camp. The 
facts and reasonings which it contains, cannot fail to awaken interest and 
draw forth thought in the minds of all who read it; and though it may not, 
and will not entirely root out the " tremendous evil " against which it is 
directed, it will most assuredly accomplish great good in putting the officers 
and soldiers of our army on their guard against one of the greatest and most 
ruinous temptations to which they are exposed. 

Affectionately, and truly yours, 

J. HAWES. 



From the Rev. Dr. Pohlman, President of the Evangelical Lutheran Minis - 
terium of the State of New York.. 

Albany, Dec. 31, 1862. 
My Dear Sir : — I am much obliged to you for the privilege of reading 
your (( Appeal to the Army of the United States," on the subject of Tem- 
perance. It seems to me that it must be productive of much good wherever 
read, and especially among the brave men who are now so heroically bat- 
tling for the Union, the Constitution and the Laws. 

As ever, yours sincerely. 

HENRY N. POHLMAN. 



Letter from the Venerable Thomas De Witt, of the Reformed Dutch Church. 

New York, Jan. 1, 1863. 
E. C. Delavan, Esq. — Dear Sir. — I have received yours, with the accom- 
panying document. The object proposed by you is an important and excell- 
ent one. You are at liberty to attach my name to any paper recommending 
it. I trust a blessing will attend the effort to counteract the great evil 
spreading through our army. Yours truly, 

THOMAS DE WITT. 



TO THE ARMY. 11 

TO THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Officers and Soldiers : I have been requested to prepare an appeal 
to the Army of the United States, officers and privates, in favor of 
Temperance. I have been assured the motive would be appreciated. 

Permit me to express to you my astonishment and wonder at what 
has taken place since the first gun was fired in this terrible war. Your 
antagonists have been as fearless and as brave as you are; but the 
great and remarkable fact is, that you, to the number of about a million 
of men, have given up voluntarily your domestic pursuits, your homes, 
relatives and friends, to yield your lives, if need be, on the battle field, 
for your country's sake Words cannot do j ustice to the sub- 
limity of this wonderful fact. The historian will record it to your 
never ending fame. 

I am well aware how delicate a point it is, for an individual to advise 
as to the personal habits of even his own brother. This difficulty may 
be surmounted by your considering me your Physician on Alcohol, as 
well as your brother in the bonds of our common humanity. I can 
assure you, I have studied for about thirty-five years the effect of 
Alcohol on the human system, and my experience and advice may 
benefit some of you. 

Let me commence by r ssuring you, that even in pure intoxicating 
wine, beer, cider, as well as all kinds of distilled spirit, Alcohol is 
the substance for which all these various liquors are desired and drunk. 
Let us see what Alcohol is. We will begin by acknowledging it to be 
a good creature of God, for certain purposes; but never good for pour- 
ing down one's throat as a beverage, any more than burning coals are 
good to be taken into your hands. It is classed by medical and scien- 
tific men of the highest grade, as a poison, and if prescribed as a med- 
icine, should be prescribed with as much care as any other poison. 
But it is a most dangerous remedy at any rate, and millions of drunk- 
ards have been made by the unguarded prescription of alcohol by 
their physicians. 

Dr. T. Romeyn Beck, in his great work on medical jurisprudence, 
remarks: "that alcohol, whether found in rum, brandy or wine, is 
a poison, is conceded on all hands." European, as well as numerous 
American physicians and chemists, fully support Dr. Beck. JRev. Dr. 
Nott, President of Union College — yet living — an abstainer of half a 



12 TO THE ARMY. 

century or more, and now about ninety years of age, says: "that 
pure alcohol is a poison, is an admitted fact." Shakespeare, in Othello, 
says: " thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be 
known by, let us call thee Devil! " That " invisible spirit " is alco- 
hol, which the great enemy of mankind has so long employed as a 
decoy to ruin such vast numbers of the human race. 

The ancient Greeks, instead of sayiog "the man is drunk," were 
in the habit of saying " themanis poisoned." Our word intoxication 
is derived from the Greek word toxicon, which signifies poison. That 
eminent French physician, Broussais, about fifty years since, discov- 
ered that, by the repeated use of alcoholic wine, a diseased state of the 
stomach was produced. The late eminent physician, Dr. Sewall of 
Washington, after deep study, and numerous dissections, prepared a 
drawing of the moderate drinker's stomach, showing conclusively that 
such drinking brought on an incipient disease of the stomach, and 
if continued, would induce diseases of various kinds, and ultimately, 
in many cases, death by delirium tremens. Those celebrated anato- 
mists, Drs. Warren, Mott and Horner, of this country, at the time, 
sustained Dr. Sewall in his position; and now, within a year or two, 
and after the most labored examination and experiments, celebrated 
chemists and physicians in France and England, have also sustained 
Dr. Sewall, proving beyond question, that alcohol is a poison, and 
should be treated as such by every one. God, the highest of all 
authorities, says wine (intoxicating) "wine is a mocker," not much, 
or little, but, "it is a mocker." No man can drink this mocker in 
health without being mocked by it, in the degree he permits himself to 
use it. The London Times says, wine (alluding to weak French wine) 
is less poisonous than gin. 

The polite commander of one of the forts near Washington, recently 
informed me, that since Government had prohibited the entrance of 
strong drink within the lines, drinking had diminished therein nine- 
tenths; still, there is some smuggling of liquors, and this, said he, 
" makes the men who drink it mad." 

I have thus far only alluded to pure intoxicating drink; the poison, 
alcohol, in it, alone makes it intoxicating. 1 conclude the strong drink 
smuggled into the camps, is made and concocted (in addition to poison 
alcohol), of drugs of the most deadly and life-destroying character, 
and that none but a crazy man would drink it were he made certain 



TO THE ARMY. 13 

of the real character of this smuggled " fire water." You may be 
sure, that ninety-nine hundredths of all the strong drinks now con- 
sumed, from the (so called) choice wines of the high and fashionable 
down to the whiskey of the soldier, are so fabricated as to cheapen 
the article and prevent the most conceited judge from detecting the 
fraud. The Rev. Dr. Xott says, in his admirable lectures: "I had a 
friend who had been himself a wine dealer, and having read the start- 
ling statements made public in relation to the brewing of wines and 
the adulterations of liquors generally, I inquired of that friend as to 
the verity of these statements. His reply was : ' God forgive me for 
what has passed in my own cellar, but the statements made are true, 
all true, I assure you.' " 

Dr. Lewis Beck, an eminent chemist, was engaged three months in 
analyzing a large private stock of wine, supposed to be of the best and 
purest quality. He found all adulterated, not fit to be used as a bev- 
erage or for medicine, and they were consequently destroyed. 

The Government has now, in its benevolence, prohibited the spirit 
ration in the navy as well as in the army. Why has it done this ? It 
is because it has come to the knowledge that intoxicating drinks, as a 
beverage, are intoxicating poisons. 

Soldiers, ponder over the battles that have been fougut during this 
unfortunate war. Ask yourselves how many engagements would have 
terminated more favorably to the honor of our beloved country, if all 
of jou (officers and men) had been total abstainers from the use of 
intoxicating drinks. 

It is also a remarkable fact, well worthy of your careful considera- 
tion, that, in the armies of all nations, the most distinguished generals 
and officers have been men of temperate habits. Promotion seldom 
falls to the lot of the intemperate. If you do not wish to disappoint 
your friends, who are anxious for your advancement, by all means 
avoid, as your worst enemy, the intoxicating cup. 

Yery many years since, Gen. Scott assured me, that he had rather 
march at the head of 5,000 temperance men, than at the head of two 
or three times that number of topers. After perusing this appeal, he 
writes, " I hope it will be read, and re-read, by every officer and man 
in the army." 

Major General Dix has forwarded me General Orders No. 11, author- 
izing its publication. 

2 



14 TO THE AEMY. 

Head-Qttaetees. Middle ThrPAUTiHTrvT. J 
Bai/hmoke, Md.. April 16ft, 1862. J" 

* * * The Coimnanaing-General can not pass by this court without a few words 
of admonition to the officers tinder his command. Two commissioned officer 
been found guilty of drunkenness by this court, and dismissed the service, and not a 
court-martial is "held without having such cases before it : every sentence in these 
cases, however severe, will be carried out with the utmost rigor." 

Drunkenness is the bane of the military profession ; it has gained a strong foothold 
in the commissioned grades, and the Commanding-General is constrained to believe 
that it is to be traced in some instances to the baa example whi ch the lei 
get to the younger by drinking in their presence, and inviting them to drink in their 
tents and quarters at all hours of the day. Moreover, the innuenee of these exam- 
ples upon the non-commissioned officers'and privates is pernicious in the extreme. 
Nine-tenths of all the crimes and offenses for which officers and soldiers are brought 
to trial are the fruits of this degrading and ungentlemanly vice : and the Command- 
ing-General earnestly appeals to the officers under his command, in the name of the 
honorable profession of arms, which it is their duty to preserve from ail taint, and in 
the name of the distracted country in whose service they are imperiling the: 
to banish from their encampments and quarters all intoxicating liquors, which add 
no vigor either to their mental or physical powers, and which are a certain source of 
demoralization, and often of indelible disgrace. * * * 

By command of Major-General DLX. 

J>. T. Tax Bubex. 

A&? t Agpi- General. [Official. 

Some people jet consider strong beer asc the great blessings 

of life; but did space allow me to spread before you all the facts I have 
in possession as to the use of the most filthy crater, as well a> the most 
poisonous drugs in the manufacture of malt and beer, you would hes- 
itate long before you would touch a drop of it. And here permit me 
to add, that physicians, in this and other countries, have testified in 
the most emphatic manner, that when sickness - the drinker 

of intoxicating liquors, his chance of recovery is not near as good as 
if he had confined his drink to water. 

Aside from the moral degradation flowing from the use of strong 
drink in its effects upon life, character, &: ftc. a its drain upon the 
purse is enormous. 

It has been computed by an individual, who, about thirty-five y 
ago, abandoned the use of all intoxicating drinks, and who, at that 
time, was expending at the rate of about §1,000 a year in the purchase 
of wines, &c., that in thirty-five years, at compound interest, it would 
have amounted to the sum of 0147,672.69. Now, soldiers have 
leisure at times, so have officers; let them see if this calculation is cor- 
rect. 

Provided by Government with liberal compensation, food and cloth- 
ing, the soldier need scarcely expend a dollar of his pay. Let him 
make a calculation what the saving would be by abstaining from strong 
drink, to the amount of five or ten cents only per day, for a year, 
and so on for any term of years, compounding the interest, and he 



TO THE ARMY. 15 

will find how easy it is to keep poor and wretched by the use of this 
poison, and how easy to become independent, if industrious, by giving 
it up entirely. 

And now brethren of the United States Army, officers and men, 
who still use intoxicating drinks as a beverage, why will you not 
adopt my principles and practice ? 

While I was a moderate drinker, I made a mental resolution (after 
reading a temperance tract placed under my plate by an unknown 
hand,) that I would for one month try the experiment of total absti- 
nence from all intoxicating drinks. Much to my astonishment I found 
it a severe trial. The poison had almost become a necessity, without 
my being conscious of it. This month gave me the victory over appetite, 
and the experiment has made me a total abstainer ever since, and may 
have saved me a drunkard's fate. Drinkers, moderate or immoderate 
drinkers, please try the like experiment, and my prayer is that it may 
influence you as it did me. 

It is an historical fact, that after the war of the Revolution, officers 
and men in great numbers returned to their homes, victims to strong 
drink, and became a disgrace to their families and to their country, and 
vast numbers of them died at last, miserable drunkards. This is the 
great fear in regard to our present army, when disbanded after peace, 
with the Union restored. May this fear never be realized in a single 
case, but may officers and men return with minds and bodies unim- 
paired by the use of alcoholic drinks, that they who desire to enter 
upon civil pursuits, may engage in them with capital saved, and with 
such principles and habits, as will enable them effectually to assist in 
making onr beloved country one of the purest and strongest of the 
nations of the earth, the home and refuge of the poverty-stricken and 
oppressed of all lands. It is impossible in a brief document like this, 
to do justice to an issue involving interests so overwhelming to indi- 
viduals and nations, as that of true temperance — total abstinence from 
all that can intoxicate. It is a question involving the morals of a 
nation, as well as its prosperity in a financial point of view, It is a 
question well worthy of the serious consideration of the rulers of all 
nations, of all statesmen, political economists, philanthropists and 
Christians. The saving of only one cent a day to each of our popula- 
tion of 31,000,000, in the use of intoxicating drink, would amount in 
a single year to $113,150,000, and pay the interest of nearly three 



16 TO THE ARMY. 

thousand millions of dollars of public debt, at five per cent. How we 
all dread the public taxes, but how little we think of the enormous tax 
we lay upon ourselves, in the purchase of articles, the use of which 
tends to produce disease, poverty, crime and premature death. 

I have only aimed to draw your thoughts to this great question, and 
with the hope that God will bless the words I send you, to your 
present, future and everlasting good. I am, 

Very truly, your friend, 

EDWARD 0. DELAVAN. 

Albany, December 1, 1862. 

Note. — About 1,000,000 of this document have been circulated. It is reprinted in 
this form, more especially to perpetuate -'the Presidential Declaration," and the 
endorsement of the principles contained in the address "To the Army of the United 
States," which contains every principle, I believe, which has been advanced by the 
friends of temperance during the progress of the reform. 



]STo. 2. 

*♦ 

THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 



THE STOMACH IN YAEIOUS STAGES, 
From Health to Death by Delirium Tremens. 



These diagrams are taken from drawings made from actual 
dissections in 1842, by Dr. Sewall, of Washington, D. C. 

Perfect accuracy is not claimed, as no two cases would 
probably present exactly the same appearance ; but it is 
claimed that they give a truthful illustration of the ravages 
resulting from the introduction of the poison, alcohol, into 
the healthful stomach, and forever settle the question that 
the injury commences with the first glass — with the mode- 
rate (falsely termed temperate) use of this poison. 

Before these representations were submitted to the public 
in 1842, those celebrated surgeons, Dr. Warren, of Boston, 
Dr. Mott, of New York, and Dr. Horner, of Philadelphia, 
endorsed them. In 1843, after a lengthened discussion as 
to the principle more especially involved in the second sto- 
mach in the series, the same distinguished anatomists re- 
endorsed them, and recommended universal circulation for 
the instruction of all classes. 



Correspondence between the Executive Committee of the New 
York State Temperance Society, and I>rs. Warren, JJIott, 
and Horner, in relation to the republication of I>r. Sewall's 
Pathology of Drunkenness, for the use of Schools. 

Gentlemen — The Executive Committee of the New York 
State Temperance Society having it in contemplation to re- 
publish, for the use of the Common Schools in the State of 
New York, Doctor Sewall's Pathology of Drunkenness, (the 
same to be accompanied with his Drawings of the Human 
Stomach, as affected by the use of intoxicating liquors, from 
the first inception of disease occasioned thereby, to death by 



18 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS 

Delirium Tremens,) hereby request your consent to the re- 
publication of the original testimonials severally given by 
you in favor of said work ; and that you will accompany 
such consent with an expression of your opinion in relation 
to the tendency of temperate drinking, as defined by Doctor 
Sewall, to produce such an incipient disease as Plate No. II. 
(labelled the Temperate Drinker's Stomach) is intended to 
exhibit and illustrate. 

PHILIP PHELPS, IRA HARRIS, 

AZOR TABER, BARENT P. STAATS, 

I. N. WYCKOFF, B. T. WELCH, 

ERASTUS CORNING, BRADFORD R. WOOD, 
S. W. DANA, 

Executive Committee. 

Dr. Warren's Reply. 

Understanding that " Doctor SewalFs Pathology of Drunk- 
enness " is about to be republished, I cordially agree to the re- 
publication in this work of the testimonial I gave some years 
ago to its utility and faithfulness. I can also add to that tes- 
timonial the expression of my opinion, that temperate drink- 
ing, as defined by Dr. Sewall, has a tendency to alter the con- 
dition of the mucous membrane of the stomach, and give origin 
to that state of it which is represented in Doctor SewalPs 
Plate No. II. JOHN C. WARREN. 

Boston, December 2, 1843. 

Dr. Mott's Reply. 

Finding that it is the intention of the New York State 
Temperance Society to republish Doctor SewalPs Pathology 
of Drunkenness, with the Prints of the Human Stomach, 
for the benefit of the Common Schools in our State, I am 
happy to repeat my hearty recommendation of this great 
and good work, and to add, that it is my full conviction 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 19 

that the pernicious practice of even temperate drinking, as 
set forth by Doctor Sewall, cannot be too severely repro- 
bated. By whomsoever this is practiced, it will be found 
to be the beginning of that sad derangement of the mucous 
membrane represented in Plate No. II., which will sooner 
or later lead to the most disastrous results. 

VALENTINE MOTT. 
New York, December 5, 1843. 

Dr. Horner's Reply. 

The New York State Temperance Society having desired 
an additional expression of opinion from me on the subject 
of Doct. SewalPs plates, being his Pathology of Drunken- 
ness, this is to certify that since my original communica- 
tion to the learned Professor, and also my letter of March 
11, 1843, to E. C. Delavan, Esq., I have seen no reason to 
modify or retract sentiments advanced on these occasions. 
On the contrary, I now renew them with a pleasure in- 
creased at the progress of the cause they are intended to 
support, and at the admirable improvement this cause has 
made in the condition of individuals and of families. 

That a reformation was needed in the customs of society 
in regard to inebriating drinks, no one ought to doubt ; and 
that this reformation, limited as it yet is, has done incalcu- 
lable good, must be apparent to every sincere inquirer into 
its present state. A wide circulation of Doctor SewalPs 
valuable Plates, by infusing a just dread and abhorrence of 
intoxication into the minds of all having their understand- 
ings now matured, will of course, by the inrluence of ex- 
ample, deter the rising generation from the dangerous prac- 
tice of even temperate drinking, as thus defined and illus- 
trated; and I shall therefore be glad to witness their 
greater extension. W. E. HORNER, M. D. 

Philadelphia, December 6, 1843. 



20 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

Letter from the Private Secretary of Prince Albert. 

Windsor Castle, November 5, 1843. 

Sir — I am commanded by His Royal Highness Prince 
Albert, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 1st 
September, and to return you His Eoyal Highness' sincere 
thanks for the set of Dr. SewalPs Drawings of the Human 
Stomach as affected by drinking, which you have been so 
good as to send, and which His Royal Highness thinks are 
admirably calculated to deter persons from giving way to 
the abominable vice of drunkenness. 

It gave His Royal Highness much pleasure to hear of the 
success with which they have been used in America, which 
makes him anxious that the same success may attend them 
here. 

I am also to thank you for the kind expressions vou have 
used to his Royal Highness personally, and I beg to remain, 
Sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, 

E. C. Delavan, Esq. G. E. ANSON. 

Westminster Eeview, London, &c, &c. 

This influential Review, in 1855, defended the moderate use of alcohol in 
health, as necessary, indeed, as food for the body. Prof. Youmans, and 
others, of the United States, and learned writers in Great Britain, exposed 
the fallacy of this position. 

Now, in 1860, this same Journal magnanimously acknowledges that recent 
scientific French investigators of the highest rank, have exploded this doc- 
trine, asserting that alcohol is a poison, and always pernicious as a beverage 
in health. By the use of alcohol, they say : " The pathological alterations 
are very vivid inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach." 

(i Very lately," says Dr. James McCulloch, of Scotland, "Messrs. Lalle- 
mand, Perrin and Duroy in France, and Dr. Edward Smith, LL. B., F. R. 
S., in London, have published a number of carefully conducted experiments, 
and most important discoveries, proving that alcohol undergoes no change in 
the body, it being expelled unchanged by the lungs, skin and kidneys;" and 
that, in the words of Dr. Smith, "it should be prescribed medicinally, as 
carefully as any other poisonous agent." 

The British Medical Journal, lately in a leader, appears willing to accept 
the improved scientific status quo as touching alcohol. It says : ie The sub- 
ject of the use of alohol is daily becoming one of more importance. The 
question of its influence on the body in health is being daily canvassed by 
the chemist and physiologist; and, as far as their lights reach, it would seem 
that not only is alcohol not of service to the body, but is actually injurious." 



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No. 3. 

♦» 

COMPARATIVE TEMPERANCE VIEW 

\ 

OF 

ENaL^NTD'S COMMERCE, 
TAXATION AND CHARITIES. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Albany, January 6th, 1864. 
To Members of Congress — 

Gentlemen : Now, that the question is under consideration 
of advancing the tax on tobacco and intoxicating drink, I take 
the liberty of enclosing to members of Congress a brief docu- 
ment on British taxation, &c, &c. 

Prohibition of the sale of intoxicating drink, as a beverage, 
as also of tobacco, would, in my opinion, not only be humane, 
but the true policy of governments. But such prohibition can 
only be sustained where a large proportion of the people are 
convinced that the principle is sound, and stand ready to sus- 
tain it, not only by vote, in the courts, but by the practice of 
total abstinence. 

While discussing the question of excise, Lord Chesterfield, 
in his address before the house of Lords, 125 years ago, 
touched the point exactly. He said: " luxury, my lords, is 
to be taxed, but vice prohibited, let the difficulty of the law 
be what it will. Luxury, or that which is pernicious by ex- 
cess, may very properly be taxed, that such excess, though not 
unlawful, may be made more difficult ; but the use of those 
things which are simply hurtful in their own nature, and in 
every degree, are to be prohibited." 

Imported liquors (as well as domestic), as a general rule, 
are mere vile adulterations, and poisonous. How wise it would 



22 BRITISH TAXATION, ETC. 

be in Congress, to order to the public stores all imported 
liquors, there to be tested by reliable chemists, and if found to 
be fabricated, through the agency of poisonous drugs, have 
them destroyed. No act would be more merciful, just and 
popular. 

There are no articles of trade which produce so great a 
percentage of profit, especially by retail, as tobacco and in- 
toxicating drink. Take the wholesale price of all kinds of 
strong drink, and then estimate the price by the glass, and it 
will be seen the profit is an enormous per cent. ; a very heavy tax 
could therefore be sustained on all kinds of intoxicating liquors 
and on tobacco. Should the tax be placed so high as to di- 
minish income by diminished use, let it be remembered, that in 
proportion to such diminution, crime, pauperism, domestic tax- 
ation, and a host of other evils, would be also diminished, and 
a vastly increased demand for other taxable commodities, use- 
ful and beneficial, would be created. 

A famine was once feared in Ireland ; the Government, by 
way of precaution, prohibited, for one year, the destruction of 
grains by the distillers and brewers. A lessened revenue was 
anticipated, but a greater was realized by the lessened con- 
sumption of strong drink, and by an increased use of healthful 
and useful taxable articles. 

A very recent report comes to our shores from the famished 
districts of Lancashire, England. I quote in brief: " One very 
remarkable fact presents itself with this period of destitution. 
It is the astounding decrease of crime ; as poverty has in- 
creased, crime has diminished. It is a common thing to have 
a session where not a crime is brought before the magistrate." 
Very respectfully your ob't servant, 

EDWARD C. DELAVAN. 



TEMPERANCE STATEMENTS 

OF 

BRITISH TAXATION, &o., &o. 

t* 

The great Temperance Reform of the present century was sent to 
England from the United States. That nation has responded gloriously, 
and the friends of the reform here rejoice to know that in our Father- 
land so many noble hearts are perseveringly engaged in enlightening the 
masses. The advance now making in England will aid us when we 
renew the struggle. The cause will languish here until this gigantic 
rebellion is put down and the Union restored. When this is achieved 
the friends of Temperance will renew their labors, until all that man can 
do will be done to arrest an evil now assuming proportions so vast, that 
if not checked, will in time sink us to the level with the most degraded 
nations of the earth. 

In 1866 there is to be a convention in the State of New York to make 
any changes in the Constitution desired by the people. The friends of 
Temperance in the State look forward with the hope that the voters will 
send such delegates to the convention as will introduce Prohibition into 
the organic law of the State. Prohibition, thus established, will be 
beyond the reach of party or party judges ; and when established here, 
other states, not already prohibitory, will hasten to become so. Prohi- 
bition is now the basis of all laws in all countries with regard to the sale 
of intoxicating drinks. It prohibits the sale to the masses, and gives 
commission to a few — for gold — to carry on the work of poisoning their 
neighbors by wholesale, and filling the poor-house, the prison-house, the 
grave-yards with victims innumerable, and burdening the temperate and 
industrious with unequal and unjust taxation. 

The facts, statistics and arguments which England is spreading before 
her people, on the great question at issue, are as instructive and as appli- 
cable to us here, as to the people of that country. 

The following pages are taken from a work, put forth some years 
since, by J. S. Buckingham, Member of Parliament. I give them to the 
public at this time with the hope that good may follow them wherever 
they go. Could Christians be brought to see it to be their duty to 
abandon the use of those poisons, named in the highest obelisk, as taxing 
England to the amount of seventy-seven and a half millidns sterling per 
annum — that obelisk (which represents the origin of vice of every grade) 
would rapidly diminish, and the charitable one, which now makes such 
a miserable figure, would rise in proportion as the other would sink. 

Albany, Jan. 6, 1864. EDWARD C. DELAVAN. 



MR. BUCKINGHAM'S REMARKS. 



The accompanying outline engraving will tell 
its own startling tale, and needs no further expla- 
nation than will be found on the following pages. The 
several obelisks and their subdivisions will show 
the respective amounts expended in each of the 
branches designated ; and when it is seen that all 
that can be raised for religious and benevolent 
societies named, falls short of a million ster- 
ling, while beer, wine, spirits and tobacco — all 
unnecessary in the most moderate use, and the 
source of immense evil when taken in excess — 
cost the British community nearly eighty millions 
sterling, or nearer one hundred millions, if illicit 
distillation and smuggling be added, in actual 
expenditure, independently of all the enormous 
charges involved in the maintenance of police, pri- 
sons, hulks, lunatic asylums, hospitals, workhouses, 
&c, mainly resulting from intemperance in their 
inmates — we may well doubt whether, as a people, 
we are entitled to the praises we so often bestow 
on ourselves, for our wisdom, piety and philan- 
thropy, in which we frequently boast that we are 
superior to all other nations now upon the face of 
the earth. 

Our drinking and smoking taxes are half as 
much again as the entire taxation of the United 
Kingdom j twelve times as much as our poor rates ; 
and more than seventy times as much as we give 
to the twelve largest societies for promoting the 
cause of religion and morality, whose united annual 
income does not amount to one million. (Pound 
sterling about five dollars.) 



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CONXRIB UTIONS 

TO THE FOLLOWING SOCIETIES. 

Bible Society ; Church Missionary So- 
ciety ; Wesleyan Missionary Society ; Lon- 
don Missionary Society ; Baptist Mission- 
ary Society; Religious Tract Society; 
Christian Knowledge Society; Propaga- 
tion of the Gospel Society ; Church Pas- 
toral Aid Society ; British and Foreign 
School Society ; Home Missionary Society ; 
Sunday School Union. 



TOBACCO 

AND 

SNUFF. 
' 7$ millions. 

HOME- 
BREWED 
BEER, CIDER. 
/ILLICIT DISTIL-' 
LATION, 
SMUGGLING. 
| ADULT E RATION 

OF 

TOBACCO, &c. 
15i Millions. 



SPIRITS. 

BRITISH, 

COLONIAL, AND 

FOREIGN. 

24 Millions. 



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U 
% 
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< 

M 

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SB 
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MALT 
LIQUORS. 



25 J Millions. 



/ Less than 

/ £1,000,000 sterling. ^ 



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a 

* 

X 

H 



IN ABOVE CHARITIES. 



I- 



/Miscellaneous. 
4 Millions. 

/CONSOLIDATED. | 

I 2j Millions. 

ORDNANCE. 

£ Millions. 

NAVY. 

6£ Millions. 



6£ Millions. 



INTEREST 



NATIONAL 



DEBT. 



28 Millions. 



POOR RATES. 
6 Millions. 





IE 

1 '£ 
1 )J5 



la 



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, 



BRITISH TAXATION, &o. 

** 

The pyramids are intended to present an idea of the various sums, in 
their relative proportions, expended by the British people upon different 
branches of the public service, and upon religious and philanthropic 
objects, in contrast with those expended upon intoxicating drinks and 
tobacco. 

The statements relating to the general taxation and expenditure of the 
country, military and civil, are taken from the government returns, and 
those respecting intoxicating drinks and tobacco, from a paper read by 
Mr. G. R. Porter, of the Board of Trade, before the last meeting of the 
British Association for the Promotion of Science. It is necessary, how- 
ever, to observe, that Mr. Porter in this instance only calculates the ex- 
penditure of the working classes upon the articles referred to, which he 
estimates at £57,000,000. The following is his statement : — 

British and Colonial spirits £20,810, 203 

Brandy 3,281,250 

Total of spirits £24,091,458 

Beer of all kinds, exclusive of that brewed in private 

families 25,3S3.165 

Tobacco and snuff. 7,588,607 

£57,063,230 

He does not include in that calculation <£5,,000,000 annually spent upon 
wine, nor does he make any calculation for the immense quantities of 
spirits supplied by smuggling and illicit distillation, for the quantities of 
cider and home-brewed beer annually consumed, nor for that which greatly 
exceeds in amount all these items put together — the enormous quantity 
added by the adulteration of every kind of intoxicating drink, as well as 
of tobacco. Had these items been included, the amount for the whole 
kingdom would have been at least one-fourth more than that which is 
stated by Mr. Porter ; and at that increased sum it is stated in the large 
pyramid. To this enormous sum expended in the purchase of alcoholic 
drinks and tobacco, we must add the loss sustained by the destruction of 
food every year, which is sufficient to maintain 6,000,000 of our popula- 
tion. A considerable proportion of the amount paid for poor rates, and 
also of the large sums annually expended in the prosecution and mainte- 
nance of our criminal population, must likewise be added. If the cost of 
strong drinks and tobacco, and the losses in various ways resulting from 
their use, be thus great, it surely becomes a duty to ascertain what benefits 
we derive in return. "With respect to strong drink we have the following 
testimony, signed by about 2,000 ^vf our most eminent medical men :— 



BRITISH TAXATION, ETC- 27 

" We, the imdersig led, are of opinion, — 

" I. — That a very large portion of human misery, including poverty, disease and crime, 
is induced by the use of alcoholic or fermented liquors, as beverages. 

' II. — That the most perfect health is compatible with total abstinence from all such 
intoxicating beverages, whether in the form of ardent spirits, or as wine, ale, porter, 
cider. &c, &c. 

"III. — That persons accustomed to such drinks, may, with perfect safety, discontinue 
them entirely, either at once, or gradually after a short time. 

"IV. — That total and universal abstinence from alcoholic liquors and intoxicating 
beverages of all sorts, would greatly conlrihute to the health, the prosperity, the mo- 
rality and the happiness of the human race." 

These views of the utter worthlessness of such drinks as an article of 
diet, are confirmed by the experience of thousands of working men and 
others, in all parts of the united kingdom. 

Of strong drink as an incentive to crime, and a powerfully demoralizing 
agent, our Judges have frequently spoken in the most decided terms. 
Amongst others we have the following : — 

Judge Coleridge : "There is scarcely a crime comes before me that is not, directly 
or indirectly, caused by strong drink." 

Judge Gurxey : " Every crime has its origin, more or less, in drunkenness." 

Judge Patteson : " If it were not for this drinking, you (the jury) and I would have 
nothing to do." 

Judge Alderson : "Drunkenness is the most fertile source of crime ; and if it could be 
removed, the assizes of the country would be rendered mere nullities." 

Judge Wightman : ;i I find in every calendar that comes before me, one unfailing 
source, directly or indirectly, of most of the crimes that are committed — intempercuice." 

It thus appears that we are annually expending the enormous sum of 
nearly £80,000,000 sterling on two articles of mere luxury, which are the 
chief incentives to the vice, misery and wretchedness that afflict our land. 

Can a stronger case by possibility be made out for the entire abandon- 
ment of any practice ? 

To the laboring classes especially, who, it is computed, annually expend 
half of the before-named sum, we would most earnestly appeal, and 
entreat them no longer to barter their means of happiness and comfort, of 
social and moral elevation, for a low, debasing and short-lived gratifica- 
tion. 

Were only five millions per annum of the large sum spent in drink de- 
voted to the purchase of land, it would afford every year a quarter of an 
qcre each to two hundred thousand laboring men ; reckoning the land at 
£100 sterling per acre. 

To the friends of religion and morality we would say : Is it wise or 
Christian to give your support to customs which so powerfully counteract 
your labors, and which absorb to so large an extent the means you greatly 
need for enlightening and evangelizing the world ? 

Twelve of our largest and most influential religious and philanthropic 
Societies are unable to raise one million a-year to prosecute their praise- 
worthy objects, while upwards of seventy millions are annually squan- 
dered on a hurtful, crime-producing drink. 



ADULTERATIONS. 



From Rev. Br. E. Nott's (LL. D., President of Union 
College) Sixth Lecture on Temperance. 



" Wine indeed, ' falsely so called/ we have in abundance; but names 
do not alter the nature of things. 

" The extract of logwood is not less the extract of logwood, nor is the 
sugar of lead less the sugar of lead, because combined with New England 
rum, Western whisky, sour beer, or even Newark cider put up in wine 
casks, stamped Port, Champagne or Madeira, and sold under the impos- 
ing sanction of the collector's purchased certificate, passed from hand to 
hand, and perhaps transmitted from father to son, to give the color of 
honesty to cool, calculating, heartless imposition. 

" 0! it was not from the vineyards of any distant grape-bearing coun- 
try, that those disguised poisons, sent abroad to corrupt and curse the 
country, were derived. On the contrary, the ingredients of which they 
are composed were collected and mingled, and their color and flavor im- 
parted, in some of those garrets above, or caverns beneath, the observa- 
tion of men; caverns fitly called ' hells,' where, in our larger cities, fraud 
undisguised finds protection, and wholesale deeds of darkness are securely 
and systematically performed. 

" I do not say this on my own authority. I had a friend who had been 
himself a wine-dealer; and having read the startling statements made in 
public in relation to the brewing of wines and the adulteration of liquors 
generally, I inquired of that friend as to the verity of those statements. 
His reply was: 'God forgive what has passed in my own cellar, but the 

STATEMENTS MADE ARE TRUE, TRUE, I assure yOU,' 

" That friend has since gone to his last account, as have doubtless many 
of those whose days on earth were shortened by the poisons he dispensed. 
But I still remember, and shall long remember, both the terms and tone 
of that laconic answer. 

" Another friend informed me that the executor of a wine dealer, in a 
city named, assured him that in the inventory of articles, for the manu- 
facture of wine found in the cellar of that dealer, and the value of which 
amounted to many thousand dollars, there was not one dollar for the 
juice of the grape! And still another friend informed me, that in examin- 
ing, as an assignee, the papers of a house in that city which dealt in wines, 
and which had stopped payment, he found evidence of the purchase during 
the preceding year, of hundreds of casks of cider, but none of wine. And 
yet it was not cider, but ' wine,' which had been supposed to have been 
dealt out by that house to its confiding customers. ,, 



]STo. 4- 

♦* 

PROHIBITION IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



The friends of Prohibition in Great Britain are moving 
steadily onward in the noble and self-sacrificing work of 
relieving Her Majesty's subjects from the demoralizing influ- 
ence of the License System, &c, &c. They have at last 
reached the National Legislature ; they have now got a foot- 
hold in the right place, and as they duly estimate the benefi- 
cial results of final success, in a religious, moral, pecuniary 
and healthful point of view (if I do not greatly mistake the 
character of the men engaged in this great and good work), 
they will not relax their efforts until the object of their labors 
is accomplished. 

Every position we have taken in this country, with regard 
to intoxicating liquors, has been fully sustained in Gfreat 
Britain, after the most patient research, by large bodies of the 
Clergy of all denominations, Biblical Scholars, Statesmen, 
and Physicians, and Chemists of the highest grade. The 
germ of this great reform, planted in this country now about 
forty years since, has swelled to gigantic proportions all over 
the civilized world, and is yet destined, as I have faith to be- 
lieve, to sweep intemperance from the face of the earth. 

The following documents will serve in some slight degree 
to enlighten the public mind in this country as to the charac- 
ter of the struggle now going on in our Father Land, on the 
question of Prohibition. God grant that the only warfare 
ever to be carried on between England and America shall be, 



30 PROHIBITION IN GREAT BTITAIN. 

which shall do the most good in promoting the happiness of 
human beings. 

While we of the North are straining every nerve to put 
down a gigantic rebellion, and restore the Union with liberty 
to all within our borders, it cannot be expected that the cause 
of Prohibition and Total Abstinence should occupy the same 
prominent place as before the war. The people at large now 
only wait the ending of the war to renew their efforts to es- 
tablish Prohibition in every State of the Union. In this State 
there is to be a Constitutional Convention in 1866, to alter or , 
amend the Constitution. The friends of Prohibition are look- 
ing forward to that year to secure Prohibition in the organic 
law of the State. It is now time that preliminary steps 
should be taken to secure the desired result. 

Twice in years long past, the Temperance cause in the 
United States languished and appeared to be making no pro- 
gress. A National Convention at Philadelphia was called at 
one time ; another at Saratoga Springs, with the most happy 
results. The debates and resolutions of these Conventions, 
wide spread, had a vast influence in awaking the whole 
nation to a simultaneous movement. 

I understand another National Convention is contemplated. 

e. a d. 

South Ballston, October 1st, 1864. 



THE LIGHT WINE DELUSION. 



" The abundance of the harvest (in France) in 1858, dimin- 
ished the poverty, and, by consequence, the crimes and of- 
fences which misery imposes; but the abundance of the 
vintage, on the contrary, multiplied blows and wounds, the 
quarrels of cabarets, the rebellious, and outrages, and vio- 
lence towards the police. These facts are again found in all 
analogous circumstances." [Bevue d J Economic Chretienne, 
Paris, 1862, pp. 1U-2. 

Horatio Greenough, the eminent American sculptor, in a 
letter to a friend, from Florence, in 1838, said: " Many of the 
more thinking and prudent Italians abstain from the use of 
wine ; several of the most eminent of the medical men are noto- 
riously opposed to its use, and declare it a poison. When I 
assure you that one-fifth, and sometimes one-fourth of the earn- 
ings of the laborers are expended in wine, you may form some 
idea as to its probable influence on their health and thrift." 
He also said that the dealers in the weak wines did not hesi- 
tate to adulterate them in order to add a trifle to their gains. 

J. Fenimore Cooper, the American novelist, said: " I came 
to Europe under the impression that there was more drunken- 
ness among us than in any other country — England, perhaps, 
excepted. A residence of six months in Paris changed my 
views entirely." 

" Light wines," says Sir Edward Bui wer Lytton, " nothing 
so treacherous! They inflame the brain like fire, while melt- 
ing on the palate like ice. All inhabitants of light-wine 
countries are quarrelsome." 

"Oh, thou invisible spirit of wine! if thou hast no name 
to be known by, let us call thee DEVIL." — Shakespeare. 

Cardinal Acton stated, in a letter, in 1839, the Government 
of Rome had more to fear from the wine shops than from any 
other source. The Emperor of the French has more to fear 
from the wine shops than all other sources united. They 
furnish the material for riot and revolution, and the wine drank 
in them is the stimulant to every vice. Americans and others 
visiting the fashionable walks of Paris and other continental 
cities, seeing but few staggering men, suppose, and honestly 
suppose, that wine countries are, in a great measure, free from 
the 7i ^e of mteifeperaiKtf but it is a great mistake. 



RESPONSIBILITY OF MODERATE DRINKERS, 
More Especially of Christian Moderate Drinkers, 

WHETHER IN CHURCH OR STATE 

The ragged, squalid, brutal drunkard, who raves in the bar-room, 
consorts with swine in the gutter, or fills with clamour and dismay 
the cold and comfortless abode, to which, in the spirit of a demon, he 
returns at night, much as ho injures himself, deeply wretched as he 
renders his family, exerts but little influence in beguiling others into 
an imitation of his revolting conduct. On the contrary, so far as 
his example goes, it tends to deter from, rather than allure to, 
criminal indulgence. From his degradation and his woes, the note of 
warning is sounded both loud and long, that whoever will may hear 
it, and hearing, understand. 

But reputable [careful] Christian wine-drinkers, are the men who 
send forth, from the high places of society, and sometimes even from 
the portals of the sanctuary,* an unsuspected, unrebuked, but power- 
ful influence, which is secretly and silently doing on every side, 
among the young, among the aged, among even females, its work of 
death. It is this reputable drinking of these disguised poisons, under 
the cover of an orthodox Christian name, which encourages youth in 
their occasional excesses, reconciles the public mind to holiday revel- 
ries, shelters from deserved reproach the bar-room tippler, and fur- 
nishes a salvo even for the occasional inquietude of the drunkard's 
conscience. 

Regard this conduct as we may, there can be no question how God 
regards it. He has not left himself without a witness of his dis- 
pleasure, in any city, town or hamlet, throughout the land. 

PRESIDENT E. NOTT, D. D. LL. D. 

*The experience of near forty years has furnished me materials for a vol- 
ume, and a large one too, of most remarkable and heart-rending incidents, 
where the examples of moderate drinking Christian men, clergymen, have 
been the ruin of youth, struggling against a habit which the social drinking 
usages of society had fastened upon them. 



PROHIBITION IN GREAT BRITAIN. 33 



United Kingdom Alliance. 

Offices : 41 John Dalton Street, ) 

Manchester, June lQth, 1864. $ 

Manifesto of the Executive of the United Kingdom Alliance 
to its Members and Adherents throughout the Nation. 

Friends and Fellow Helpers : 

For the first time, the House of Commons has seriously 
discussed the principle of a Permissive Prohibitory Liquor 
Law. A stage of progress which it had been predicted would 
never be reached, has been attained. A second reading has 
been formally proposed and respectfully debated. The re- 
sult is known, and a consideration of the facts will show 
what reason we have for thanking God and taking courage. 
"When we entered upon the Parliamentary struggle, we were 
prepared to find an adverse House of Commons. Hostility 
has been usually manifested to the initiation of the greatest 
reforms of recent times, and we could not in the first stages 
expect other treatment for ours. At the last General Elec- 
tion, our most sanguine and earnest adherents generally con- 
tented themselves with a pledge, where it could be obtained, 
to support the first reading of a Bill, in order that an explan- 
ation of its nature might not be denied. This pledge has, in 
most cases, been creditably redeemed ; but promises in favor 
of a second reading had then hardly any existence. In the 
interval since 1859, vacancies in the Representation have 
frequently occurred, and much commendable diligence has 
been shown to press our views and wishes upon the candidates 
who have come forward. The instances have, however, been 
few in which an organized and concentrated manifestation of 
strength has backed these efforts. 

On the 10th of March, Mr. Lawson brought " The Intoxi- 



34 PROHIBITION TS GREAT BRITAIN. 

eating Liquors Bill," embodying onr principle, into the House 
of Commons, and it was read a first time. Leave to bring it 
in was granted, by 72 Totes against 88. It is probable that 
this division excited in the breasts of some of onr friends, 
not well acquainted with the usages of Parliament, an exag- 
gerated estimate of the good-will of the House towards the 
measure. All that was signified by this vote was a courteous 
inclination to have the Bill printed and discussed — this, and 
nothing more. We therefore could not build any hopes upon 
the defeat of a sudden and ungraceful opposition on that occa- 
sion. The number who would support the Bill at the next 

review, was still uncertain. We did our dut^ ailed 

upon you to petition the House, and to supplement petitions, 
by electoral memorials and private communications to your 
respective members. This counsel was widely accepted, and 
too much approval cannot be expressed of the activity and 
enthusiasm which, in many places, you exhibited. The effect 
produced upon members of Parliament could not, however, be 
foreseen. We knew that we had to contend with much ignor- 
ance, both of our principles and of the hold they possessed 
upon public sympathy ; and we were confident that the inte- 
rests of some, and the fears of many, would prevent their 
co-operation with Mr. Lawson. It was possible, but not pro- 
bable, that from twenty to thirty members would follow Mr. 
Lawson into the lobby- 

The event has exceeded this calculation, and we can sin- 
cerely avow our gratification that as many as 37 members, 
including tellers — some of them representing influential con- 
stituencies — voted in favor of the Bill. If to these we add 
the three who paired in favor, we have no fewer than forty 
members who have recorded their approval of the vital prin- 
ciple of the measure — the right of the people when so dis- 
posed, to prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquors within their 



PROHIBITION IN GREAT BRITAIN. 35 

districts. That such success should have attended this first 
parliamentary effort, is remarkable, and is a proper cause of 
profound thankfulness to Almighty God. The fact ought not 
to escape notice that 324 members did not vote at all. Nearly 
half the House of Commons remained neutral, thus indicating 
an unwillingness to commit themselves against the Bill. 
Taking those who neither voted nor paired adversely, we 
have out of the 656 members, 359 who are not committed 
against the Bill. The debate has widely diffused more cor- 
rect information of our principles and views to the country; 
and has imparted a prodigious impetus to the agitation, 
regarded as such. It has shown the argumentative weakness 
of the opposition. It has registered the admission of the 
popularity of the measure. It has extorted the confession 
that the present system is bad, and that something must be 
done. It has even originated from Mr. Bright a proposal 
kindred to itself in principle. 

From the whole of these circumstances we gather clear and 
strong encouragement. The first blow has been struck in 
Parliament, and it must be repeated. We are bound to sup- 
port Mr. Lawson, who has honorably and ably done his part, 
and to see that the flag once raised is carried higher and 
higher. This we can only effect by a closer union among 
ourselves, by greater liberality in behalf of the movement, 
and by such an electoral organization in our counties and 
boroughs, as shall divest the liquor traffic of its existing poli- 
tical influence, and induce political parties to avoid our oppo- 
sition, and desire our friendship. We must endeavor to 
secure the adhesion of the members before they take their 
seats in the next Parliament. A General Election cannot be 
long delayed. To prepare for it is your immediate, your most 
urgent and imperative business. We, the Executive, and our 
agents throughout the country, will render all possible advice 
and assistance. Let us hear from you at the earliest opportu- 



36 PROHIBITION IN GREAT BRITAIN. 

nity, for on us in concert will devolve the labors and honors 
of the work to be done among the electors and at the hust- 
ings. It is now, in the pause that follows the first trial of our 
strength, that we hear afresh the voice of patriotism and hu- 
manity, demanding, in the words of the Declaration of the 
General Council — "That rising above class, sectarian, or 
party considerations, all good citizens should combine to pro- 
cure an enactment, prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors, 
as affording most efficient aid in removing the appalling evil 
of intemperance." 



[Resolutions of a Conference of Alliance Friends 
in London. 

Immediately after the division on Mr. Lawson's " Intoxi- 
cating Liquors Bill," on Wednesday afternoon, June 8th, a 
large number of the leading and active friends of the Alliance, 
who had been in attendance in the lobby of the House, and 
aiding in the deputation to Lord Palmerston, met at the Alli- 
ance offices, 335 Strand, to confer upon the result of the dis- 
cussion that had taken place, and the future operations of the 
supporters of the movement. Mr. Pope presided, and very 
ably stated the position of the question, and the bearings of 
the division that had just taken place. Many very excel- 
lent practical suggestions were made by the various speakers, 
and the following resolutions were unanimously adopted : 

Moved by Charles Jupe, Esq., seconded by Thomas Clegg, 
jggq, : — "That the friends of the Alliance who are present 
at this Conference, from various parts of the country, feel 
very much encouraged with the result of the first division in 
the House of Commons on the principle of the Permissive 
Prohibitory Liquor Bill, introduced by Messrs. Lawson and 
Bazley; and they rejoice that the agitation in its behalf has 



PROHIBITION IN GREAT BRITAIN. 37 

at length been recognized by Parliament as involving a ques- 
tion for its earnest consideration. The Conference regard 
the circumstances of so large a number of members being in 
the House at the division, as in itself a recognition of the im- 
portance of the question; and they rejoice that so many mem- 
bers at the very first introduction of the measure were pre- 
pared to support its principle by their votes. They earnestly 
recommend all friends of the movement to increase their 
efforts in enlightening public opinion, and informing members 
of the Legislature of the real nature of the Permissive Bill." 

Moved by Edward Whitwell, Esq., Kendal, seconded by 
Rev. Canon Jenkins, M. A. : — " That the most cordial 
thanks of the friends of the movement are due and are 
hereby tendered to Wilfrid Lawson, Esq., M. P., for the able 
manner in which he has introduced the Permissive Bill into 
the House of Commons.'* 

Moved by Thomas Richardson, Esq., Bagshott, seconded by 
J. B. Taylor, Esq., London : — "• That the best thanks of the 
Conference be presented to Mr. Bazley and those members of 
Parliament who supported Mr. Lawson by their speeches and 
votes on the second reading of the Intoxicating Liquors Bill."" 



Address to Members of Parliament. 
On the morning of the debate in the House of Commons 
on Mr. Lawson's bill, a copy of the following document was 
delivered at the residence of each member : 

"Intoxicating Liquors Bill" Second Reading, Wednesday, 
June 8th, 1864. 

" Honorable gentlemen are respectfully requested to sup- 
port the second reading of the Intoxicating Liquors Bill. 

" 1. The numerous acts regulating the sale of drink re- 
cognize that the traffic needs treatment of an exceptional 
4 



38 PROHIBITION IN GREAT BRITAIN. 

character. In fact, all persons are prohibited from selling 
intoxicating liquors, excepting those who are permitted by 
license. 

" 2. Licenses are now granted on the production of certifi- 
cates from the magistrates, who are constituted the judges, 
not only of the character of the applicants, but of the wants 
of the neighborhood. 

" 3. Whilst this serious responsibility rests upon the gen- 
tlemen holding the commission of the peace, they are without 
any means of ascertaining the wishes of the community 
amongst whom the licensed houses are established. 

" 4. The Intoxicating Liquors Bill provides the machinery 
by which the public, upon the widest suffrage in existence, 
may indicate, by their votes, whether they desire the sale of 
intoxicating liquors in their midst. 

" 5. It provides that when a large majority — two to one — 
wish to be without the sale amongst them, then, and only 
then, shall their veto become operative. 

"6. The bill does not propose to close public houses as 
places of public entertainment, but simply to stop the sale of 
intoxicating drinks when the people' desire the privilege of 
sale to be withdrawn. 

" 7. Public houses, without the sale of those dangerous 
articles, will become more available for all classes. They 
will be victualling houses rather than drinking houses. 

" 8. The principle of the bill has been acted upon by many 
landowners, and the inhabitants of the district affected by 
this policy express the greatest satisfaction with the arrange- 
ment and its results. What is done by landed proprietors, 
with such beneficial effects, cannot be objectionable when ac- 
complished by the people themselves. 

11 9. The bill is not coercive in any sense not applicable to 
all legislation, and is not a measure capable of abuse by any 
party or class. It enables drinkers and drinksellers to vote 
equally with other sections of the community. Under these 
circumstances, to pass the Intoxicating Liquors Bill would 
clearly be an extension of liberty to the people to protect 
themselves from the evils and taxation invariably produced or 
augmented by the liquor shops of a district. 



PROHIBITION IN GREAT BRITAIN. 39 

" 10. All classes would ultimately be benefited by the bill, 
and as it has the support of large numbers of the working 
classes, it is hoped that honorable members will be in their 
places to support the second reading on Wednesday, June 
8th, at 12 o'clock." 
United Kingdom: Alliance, 

Offices — 41 John Dalton Street, Manchester ; and 335 Strand, London. 
June 7th, 1864. 



To the Right Hon. Lord Palmerston, Her Majesty's 

first Minister of State. 
The Humble Memorial of the Executive of the United King' 

dom Alliance, for the Total Legislative Suppression of the 

Liquor Traffic, 
Respectfully Shetveth — 

That your Memorialists, from a wide observation of the 
condition and sentiments of the people of the United King- 
dom, and especially of the middle and working classes, are 
convinced that there is a strong opinion and a growing feeling 
against the present system of Licensing places for the Sale 
of Intoxicating Liquors. 

That the efforts and teachings of Temperance and Social 
Reformers have resulted in a prevalent and deep conviction, 
that strong drink is an exceptional article of commerce, and 
that it is neither right nor politic for the State to sanction 
and uphold a system that produces poverty, vice, crime, 
insanity, and premature death. 

That your Memorialists have observed that many leading 
Landowners, of late years, have recognized the pernicious 
and demoralizing character of places Licensed for the Sale 
of Intoxicating Liquors; and have exercised their influence 
to remove these pestilent places from their estates. And in 
no instance have the people of the district, from whence the 



40 PROHIBITION IN GREAT BRITAIN. 

liquor traffic has been thus excluded, expressed any griev- 
ances or complaints; but on the contrary, in all cases, your 
Memorialists believe that public sentiment has ratified and 
rejoiced in the beneficial change. 

That your Memorialists have fo* a series of years tested 
the opinion of the masses of the people on this question of 
the Liquor Traffic, by holding public meetings, gathering pe- 
titions, and by a systematic house to house visitation and 
canvass. The result of these inquiries has been such as to 
fully convince your Memorialists that the present public 
house system, if submitted to the action of an effective popu- 
lar control, would soon be swept away, as a public nuisance 
and social curse. 

That, as these drinking houses are ostensibly Licensed for 
the convenience and advantage of the public, your Memorial- 
ists conceive that it is only just and right that the people of 
any district should have the power to declare by vote, that 
they either do or do not desire to have these places in their 
midst. 

That your Memorialists therefore respectfully and most 
earnestly implore your Lordship and the Government to sanc- 
tion and aid the effort now being made to pass the " Intoxi- 
cating Liquors Bill," which would enable the owners and 
occupiers of property, being Ratepayers, to veto the issue of 
Licenses for the sale of Intoxicating Liquors, whenever and 
wherever a majority of two-thirds shall so determine. 

And your Memorialists will ever pray. 

Signed on behalf of the Executive Council, 

WALTER C. TREVELYAN, Bart., President. 
WILLIAM HARVEY, J. P., Chairman. 
Sx4MUEL POPE, Barrister -at-Law, Hon. Sec. . 
THOMAS H. BARKER, Secretary. 

Manchester, June Uh } 1864. 



No. 5. 

♦ ♦ 

THE 

AMERICAN TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT, 

PREPARED BY REQUEST OF THE GREAT TEMPERANCE ALLIANCE OP 
GREAT BRITAIN, AND READ AT THE 

International Temperance and Prohibition Convention 

HANOVER SQUARE ROOMS, LONDON, 
ON SEPTEMBER 3d, 1862. 

BY EDWARD C.DEL A VAN, 

ALBANY, N. Y. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



FROM E. C. DELAVAN, ESQ., UNITED STATES. 

South Ballston, Saratoga County, ) 

New York, U. S. A., Aug. 12th, 1862. \ 

Sir — I have been notified by my friend, T. H. Barker, Esq., 
Secretary of the " Grand Alliance," that the committee of 
arrangements for the International Temperance and Prohibi- 
tion Convention, to be held in London on the 2d, 3d, and 4th 
of September, has done me the honor of naming me the first 
Vice-President of the Convention, an honor which I greatly 
appreciate. 

I was a delegate to the World's Convention, held at Lon- 
don in 1838. On my recent visit to England, I was much 
delighted and greatly encouraged with the marked advance 
the cause of Temperance had made during this long interval. 
The fact that you, sir, act as President of the Alliance, as 
well as the presiding officer of the Convention, with the Earl 



42 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE IN ENGLAND. 

of Harrington and Lord Brougham as Vice-Presidents, makes, 
in my opinion, an era in the great Temperance cause. 

I am older than I was in 1838, and yet, if it is possible and 
compatible with other duties, I shall endeavor so to manage 
my affairs as to sail in the Africa, the 20th instant, from 
Boston, with the expectation of reaching London in time to 
take the highly honorable place assigned me on the platform. 
Should I be prevented, the disappointment to me would be 
very great. 

Permit me, sir, to express the opinion, that the Permissive 
Bill appears to me simple in its structure and just in its aim ; 
and I have no doubt it is destined in due time to prevail, and 
cause a rich flow of blessings to the British nation. The 
press in this country has been the great instrument to enlighten 
the public mind, and bring that mind up, step by step, to the 
full blaze of the truth with regard to the nature and effects 
of alcohol. 

In 1837 I hardly knew of a dozen individuals who had even 
thought of Prohibition. Now, I believe there are millions of 
true converts to the principle, who only wait the ending of the 
present unholy, causeless rebellion, to renew their labors 
until the law is fully enacted in every State in the Union. 

Of a single document on the immorality of the traffic, two 
millions two hundred thousand were printed — a copy for 
every family in the nation that by any possibility could be 
reached. Copies of important Temperance papers have often 
been furnished for every family in the State. It appears to 
me the Permissive Bill should follow, not precede the gene- 
ral enlightenment of the masses, as to its value and justice. 

I look upon the Alliance, and all kindred organizations, in 
their influence, as mutual insurance associations to preserve 
health, life, and property ; to lessen pauperism, crime and 
taxation ; and to promote piety, virtue, and add to national 
health and prosperity. 

If these benevolent institutions in Great Britain can, by 
their efforts, diminish the consumption of alcoholic poison as 
a beverage a single penny a day to each of 35,000,000 of the 
inhabitants of the British Isles, it would amount (if my cal- 
culation is correct) to £53,229,166 sterling a year. As the 
pulpit, press, and the lecturer are the principal instruments of 
enlightenment, I trust the public bounty will flow into the 



AMERICAN TEMPERANCE IN ENGLAND 4S 

treasury of the Alliance in proportion to the magnitude of the 
labor thrown upon it. I am, sir, yours very truly, 

Sir W. C. Trevelyan. E. C. Delavan. 



South Ballston, New York, United States, ) 
August 16th, 1862. \ 

My Dear Friend — I have this moment received your kind 
note of the 29th ult. I regret most deeply and painfully the 
necessity of informing you that my health will not allow me at 
this time to cross the Atlantic. I have never recovered from 
the severe accident which befel me last year. I have delayed 
writing till the last moment, hoping I might (as I intimated to 
your worthy President) take the steamer of the 20th inst. 
But such is my state of health that my family object, and I 
dare not go. 

You very much overrate the importance of my presence at 
the Convention. To me the loss will be great ; and it is also 
a disappointment which I feel very deeply. I spent seven 
years of my life in England, and have experienced so much 
kindness from English friends that I cannot cast them from my 
heart because some of them, through the agency of a depraved 
press, have been misled as to the cause of the great rebellion. 
You may rely upon it, my friend, this rebellion has been long 
hatching — about as long as the Temperance Reformation has 
had being. The war originated in the South to break up the 
Union, with the hope of fastening slavery on this Continent. 
The war was commenced in the South. The South fired the 
first gun. The North is fighting for its existence as a nation, 
for the Union, and for the final downfall of slavery, which is 
as important to the South as to the North. The North will 
continue to fight for these objects while a man or a dollar is 
left. To be consistent, England must sympathize with us. 
We want no help ; we have the means and power of doing up 
this work. We may have reverses, but they will only stimu- 
late to greater effort. The North have a pride in labor. It is 
according to God's law that man should eat bread " by the 
sweat of his brow." The South would set aside this law, and 
gain their bread by the sweat of other men's brows, and under 
the lash too often. Will God permit this ? I think not. 

It appears to me that if ever there was a time, now is that 



44 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE IN ENGLAND. 

time, when statesmen should study the Temperance cause in 
view of its political economy. Your laboring classes are on 
the verge of starvation for the want of bread, consequent upon 
the want of cotton. Are not the brewers and distillers, by 
destroying the grain of the earth, increasing the evil tenfold ? 

The Temperance Reformation has not yet done its perfect 
work in this country by any means ; it has still to encounter 
and subdue many opposing forces. Much, however, has been 
done of permanent value. When the reform was inaugurated 
in 1826, the population was about half that it now is. The 
darkness was all but universal as to the true character of alco- 
hol. Then, not one farm in a hundred was cultivated without 
the poison, " alcohol," in the hay and harvest field. Then, a 
great proportion of the farms were mortgaged to the rum seller. 
Now, not one in a hundred use the poison on their farms, and 
mortgages for liquor bills are now rare. The farmers of the 
nation are the strength of it, and can be relied on in any neces- 
sity involving right principles. 

But I must not take up your time. I know full well, by 
experience, how much labor and anxiety it must cost to prepare 
for such a Convention as is to meet in London on the 2d, 3d 
and 4th of September. Do present my kindest regards to all 
your associates, and believe me as ever, 

Your friend, 
T. H. Barker, Esq., Sec'y Edward 0. Delavan. 

United Kingdom Alliance, 

To procure the total immediate Legislative suppres- 
sion of the traffic in Intoxicating Liquors, 

Manchester, England. 



AMERICAN TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT. 



About a third of a century since, a small Band of Temper- 
ance men in the United States of America ventured to put 
forth their belief that distilled spirit was always injurious as a 
beverage. This opinion was at first assailed as ridiculous and 
fanatical, an outrage on public opimon and common sense. 

But this small band, believing their position to be true, 
employed the press and other instrumentalities to bring home 
to every fireside in the nation, which could possibly be reached, 
those facts and arguments by which they had themselves been 
convinced. 

Truth is mighty, and it did prevail. These efforts were 
eminently blessed, and after a few years of intense labor the 
results were truly astonishing. 

Four hundred thousand persons in the State of New York, 
gave in their adhesion to the principle, and signed the pledge 
of Abstinence from the use of ardent spirits. Over ten 
thousand dealers abandoned the traffic, in obedience to public 
opinkm, or from the bidding of an enlightened conscience. 

Although the truth was thus blessed, in regard to distilled 
liquors, yet only a part of the truth had been proclaimed. 
Science came in, and settled the fact, that alcohol in ferment- 
ed drinks was exactly the same poisonous fluid as in distilled 
liquors. 

Before the full establishment of this fact, spirits became so 
universally condemned, and the trade so reduced, that the 
dealers resorted to skillful adulterations, by which they adroit- 



4:6 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE IN ENGLAND. 

ly converted a great deal of their stock of ardent spirits into a 
drink bearing the name of wine, and, under this disguise, de- 
coyed tens of thousands into drinking ardent spirits, who sup- 
posed they were living up to their pledge ! This art has now 
become a business, so established that a pure article of liquor, 
even when intoxicating, is almost out of the question, whether 
for medicinal or sacramental purposes. 

When the truth became known that it was alcohol, no mat- 
ter under what name disguised, which was the "mocker," 
ruining the world, the friends of true Temperance had but 
two alternatives ; either to give up the reform altogether, or 
fight the battle against alcohol in fermented as well as distilled 
liquor. They had the moral courage given them, in the face 
of the general opinion of the civilized, but more especially of 
the Christian world, to fight this battle. The opposition was 
all but universal ; the thousands of societies formed under the 
ardent spirit pledge fell away, and the whole labour had to be 
gone over again to establish the Total Abstinence doctrine. 

The political and generally the religious press uttered the 
cry of denunciation against this step in advance, condemning 
it as opposed to the teachings of the Saviour. " Did he not," 
said they, " make intoxicating wine at the marriage of Cana ? 
Did not He dispense it at the institution of the Last Supper?" 

It was thought to be sufficient answer to these inquiries that 
the Bible had denounced intoxicating wine as "a mocker," 
not much or little, but wine itself; had characterized intoxi- 
cating wine as " biting like a serpent, and stinging like an 
adder." How could the Saviour, without stultifying this 
teaching, make and dispense intoxicating wine ? He who came 
into the world to save, not to destroy it ! That our Saviour 
made wine, out of water, is true, but must it follow that He 
made the kind which is "a mocker." 

The doctrine that the Bible sanctions the use of intoxicating 
liquors, as a beverage, has been the bane of the Church. It 



AMERICAN TEMPERANCE IN ENGLAND. 47 

has already caused the downfall of millions within- its pale, 
and is still leading on millions more to the same impending 
judgment. 

The delusive doctrine that the moderate use is safe, and 
that it is excess only that is to be avoided, has occasioned most 
of the drunkenness of the world ; and, unless this delusion is 
expelled, intemperance will continue to the end of time. The 
use of alcohol as a beverage in health, is at all times, and in 
all cases, a violation of the laws of life, which are the laws of 
God ; and so long as such use is sanctioned by the Church, 
drunkenness will, however unwittingly, be perpetuated by the 
Church. 

Temperance organizations have furnished the world with 
facts and arguments, to show that there can be no cure for the 
evil, save total abstinence. The early labourers in the States 
are passing away. The Kev. Justin Edwards, D. D., Governor 
Briggs, Dr. Warren, Honorable Theodore Frelinghuysen, and 
others of the like character, who were faithful to the last, have 
died ; the Revs. Drs. Beecher, Nott, and Wayland ; Chief Jus- 
tice Savage, John Tappan, Horace Greeley, Dr. Hewitt, Dr. 
Mussey, Chancellor Walworth, Hon. G. Smith, Rev. Dr. Marsh, 
Professor Youmans, General J. H. Cocke, Bishop Potter, Pro- 
fessor C. A. Lee, and a host of others, who assisted to raise 
the Temperance standard, yet live, and have never for a mo- 
ment deserted their colours. As with you, so with us, the 
most devoted friends of the reform have at times honestly dif- 
fered as to the best mode of urging it forward ; but as a rule, 
by friendly intercourse and public discussion, great oneness 
of sentiment and action has been attained. Total Abstinence 
men all over this nation are so numerous, and have practiced 
the abstinence they have preached so long, that they have 
become venerable landmarks, illustrating in their persons the 
inestimable value of the principle. These veterans cannot here- 
after labour as in times past ; but it is most refreshing and 



48 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE IN ENGLAND. 

heart-cheering to them to know that converts to their princi- 
ples are to be found by millions, including men and women of 
all ranks in Church and State. Our great leader in Prohibi- 
tion, General Neal Dow, now engaged in fighting the battles 
of his country, will, we hope, when peace is restored, again 
lead on the prohibitory host to victory. 

The latest steps adopted by our rulers are encouraging. The 
English public are acquainted with the well-bruited fact that 
spirit rations, with quinine, were issued to the army on the 
Potomac to ward off fever. A week's trial was sufficient evi- 
dence of its futility for good, and its power for evil, and the 
Commander-in-Chief at once expelled this most dangerous foe. 
At the same time Congress ordered alcohol to be ejected from 
the navy, where it has nestled for fifty years ; and now both 
army and navy stand out before the world, in all their regula- 
tions, examples of Temperance principles. May England soon 
follow in the same safe and sanitary path ! 

Prohibition has not been a failure in this country. A very 
great Majority of the people, outside the corrupting influence 
of large towns and cities, are decidedly in favor of it, and in 
time will have it. After the war ends and things settle down, 
the movement will again revive, and what you are now doing 
will be valuable aid to us, though the struggle will be long 
and arduous. We, indeed, have special difficulties, if special 
advantages. Our political demagogues^ who appear willing to 
sacrifice the best interests of their country to carry out party 
ends, look to the grog-shop and the miserable drunkard, as 
their most valuable supporters. These influences will be 
arraigned against universal Prohibition, and it will require 
many Dows and Careys to conquer. That they will conquer, 
I as fully believe as that there is a God in Heaven. 

I repeat, Prohibition has been no failure in America, all 
things considered. It has hardly had a fair trial generally ; 
but where it has, the beneficial results in such localities have 



AMERICAN TEMPERANCE IN ENGLAND. 49 

quite exceeded the expectations of its friends. With ns, as 
with you, the opponents hs.ve been most ingenious in their 
arguments to prejudice the masses against the measure. One 
standing plea has been, that it is "a tyrannical attempt to 
take away the liberties of the people." "Is it right," they 
ask, "that any citizen should be prohibited from selling, or 
be embarrassed in the means of procuring, what he is accus- 
tomed to use without apparent injury to himself or the pub- 
lic, because others abuse it to their own detriment ?" In re- 
plying, it is necessary first of all to inquire what are the 
invariable and inevitable social effects of the liquor-traffic ? 
for it is on these grounds, if at all, that the State has a right 
to interfere. Now, it is safe to assert, that whenever human 
beings have been exposed to the temptation of intoxicating 
drinks, many have partaken of them habitually, and a consi- 
derable number have become drunkards. So long as this 
ensnaring temptation is publicly offered, it is certain that 
many will drink, and numbers will become abandoned drunk- 
ards. These propositions are confirmed by all experience, 
from the days of the flood until this very hour. It is equally 
undeniable that these drunkards are withdrawn from every 
duty they owe to society, and finally hurried down, through 
sufferings none but themselves can conceive, to dishonored and 
untimely graves ; that in the meantime some of them become 
maniacs ; that some, under the moral blindness and frenzy of 
intoxication, are guilty of murders and other crimes ; that 
many of them inflict upon Iheir helpless wives and children 
miseries, compared with which speedy death were a blessing ; 
and that the immediate costs and terrible consequences of 
these misdeeds fall on citizens in no degree accountable for 
them. Can a law, designed to relieve these citizens from such 
mischiefs, by directly and absolutely interdicting their known 
cause, really be tyrannical and unjust 2 or is it not usual and 



50 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE IN ENGLAND. 

proper legislation ? Light may be thrown on the question by 
a simple definition of municipal law and of liberty : — 

" Civil, or municipal law, is a rule of conduct prescribed 
to all the citizens by the supreme power in the State, in con- 
formity to the constitution, on a matter of common interest. 
It is the solemn declaration of the legislative power, by which 
it commands, under certain penalties or certain rewards, what 
each citizen should do, not do, or suffer, for the common good 
of the State." 

Liberty is defined as " The power of doing whatever is 
not injurious to others ; the exercise of our natural rights, 
bounded only by the rights which assure to others the enjoy- 
ment of their rights. Civil liberty is the power to do what- 
ever is permitted by the laws of the land. It is no other than 
natural liberty so far restrained by human laws and no further, 
as is necessary and expedient for the general advantage of the 
public." 

Now, in view of the admitted wrongs to individuals, and 
burdens and taxes upon the public, through the sale of intox 
icating drinks, compare a law simply prohibiting that sale with 
the above, or the narrowest definitions, of municipal law, and 
we shall find that the law proposed comes strictly within its 
terms ; or compare this law with the above, or the broadest 
definition of human liberty, and we shall find that it is not 
infringed a hair's breadth by the Maine Law. If this be so ; 
if the law merely prescribes what " each citizen should do, 
not do, or suffer, for the common good of the State " — if, in 
effect, it simply interdicts some from doing what is " injurious 
to others," then we may safely assume that it is neither tyran- 
nical nor improper, but within the ordinary sphere of legislation. 

A license law, in fact, involves the entire right in question, 
for such a law primarily prohibits all, and then excepts those 
licensed ; and if it had not the light to prohibit them also, 
the license would be an idle cereiuony. In this view of the 



AMERICAN TEMPERANCE IN ENGLAND. 51 

case, the question of right has been practically settled for 
ages. 

But to some minds the application of the principle of Pro- 
hibition, in a parallel case, may be more convincing. Thirty 
years since, the several cities of New York State were almost 
as plentifully studded with shops for the sale of lottery tickets , 
as with those for vending intoxicating drinks — both licensed 
by the State, under the notion of regulating the business. 
The purchaser of lottery tickets could take the same grounds 
as the purchaser of intoxicating drinks ; he paid for what he 
purchased with his own money ; he had too much prudence to 
do himself any harm ; he was willing and able to dedicate all 
he expended for tickets to the benign objects of the lottery, 
thereby purchasing the possibility of drawing a prize. The 
vendor of tickets could, in like manner, insist on the pecuni- 
ary losses to which he would be exposed, by the destruction 
of a business, to which he had devoted himself under the 
sanction of law, and on which his family depended for sup- 
port ; that the business ought not to be suppressed, because a 
few only of those who purchased tickets were ruined by its 
allurements — still less should it be suppressed without 
ample compensation. 

In principle, this lottery and the liquor trade were the same, 
but in two or three particulars there was a difference. Lotteries 
were for the promotion of science and literature, an object 
undeniably useful, while the liquor traffic is of worse than 
doubtful utility. The allurements of the lottery were consid- 
erable, but those of the inebriating cup are many times greater ; 
while the mischief and ruin which attended the former, was as 
a drop to the ocean in comparison with the latter. On the 
ground of facts, therefore, the liquor business should have been 
forbidden, and the lotteries, if either, ought to have been cher- 
ished and perpetuated by State licenses. On the contrary, 
however, the Legislature of 1827 prohibited, under severe 



52 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE IN ENGLAND. 

penalties of fine and imprisonment, the opening of any lottery 
scheme, or the sale of any lottery tickets, authorized or unau- 
thorized ; and the people emphatically sanctioned the enact- 
ment by vigorously enforcing it, and by causing to be inserted 
in the constitution, approved by their own votes, a clause for- 
bidding any future Legislature to repeal it. 

An attentive examination of our numerous prohibitory and 
penal laws, will show that the supreme selfishness which seeks 
the gratification of its own appetites, or the acquisition of gain, 
by means dangerous to others, is as promptly and sternly 
rebuked by municipal law as by Christian morality. It is the 
impunity in public and private mischief, hitherto enjoyed by 
the liquor traffic, and not the law demanded for its suppression, 
which really constitutes a marked and mischievous exception 
to the ordinary course of protective legislation. 

The philanthropists of England and America are engaged in 
a mighty work, in spreading the Gospel throughout the world. 
They send their bishops and missionaries everywhere ; but, as 
a general rule, along with the Bible they introduce intoxicating 
liquor, and even at the very table of the Lord the convert is 
expected to partake of the cup of intoxication. I pray that 
this great error may ere long be corrected in the churches, 
and when corrected by them, the world at large will follow, 
and one of the greatest hindrances to conversion will be 
remove;!. 



No. 6. 

♦• 

LETTER, 

TO 

GENERAL JOM H. COCIE OF VIRGINIA, 

(Late President of the American Temperance Union,) 

ON THE COMMUNION QUESTION. 

FROM 

EDWARD C. DELAVAN. 



South Ballstox, October 1, 1856. 
To General John H. Cocke, 

Late President Am. Temperance Union, 
7 Island Post Office, Virginia. 

My Dear Sir: — While on your recent visit to me, you remarked 
that it was due to the cause of Temperance, to myself, as well as my 
family, that I should give to the public a brief history of the rise of 
the Communion question, and my true position with regard to it. 
That while you fully understood the whole matter, yet you had not 
un frequently, even in Virginia and elsewhere, to defend me from 
unfounded charges with regard to this important question. Your 
recent letter, alluding to the same subject, has induced me to comply 
with your request, which I now do as briefly as possible, that the 
reproach and charge of my "daring attempt to banish from the com- 
munion table the element the Son of God consecrated," may be 
removed. 

In the early years of the Temperance Reform in the State of Xew 
York, the agitation of the Communion question was thought by many 
as most unfortunate, and calculated to retard the movement, if not 
threaten the overthrow of the Temperance cause entirely. 

At this time, I cannot but think, that on a review of the whole ques- 
tion, it will be looked upon in a truer light and with a more impartial 
eye. And when it is considered that whatever explanation I have to 
make must be made soon, if made at all, I shall, I trust, be pardoned 
for making that explanation now. 

Besides the opposition met with from dealers and drinkers, which 
was to be expected, great embarrassment was experienced in conse- 
quence of the position assumed even by educated men, that alcohol was 



54 LETTER TO GEXL. COCKE OF VA. 

the result of distillation; and that fermented liquors were, therefore, 
not injurious but healthful as a common beverage. So little under- 
stood was the nature of the poison we arrayed ourselves against, as 
if :ted with fermentation, that our noble., intelligent and mutual 
friend, the Hon. Germ Smith, at the first meeting of the New York 
State Temperance Society, recommended the cultivation of the vine 
and the manufacture of wine. He said ;; it would be a useful Tem- 
perance measure to substitute wine for ardent spirits." Xow this 

noble and disinterested supporter of the cause, feels that he has 
not only the same moral but the same legal right to enter the tenement 
where intoxicating liquors are sold as a beverage, whether the product 
of the vrine vat or the still, and vdth his ovrn hand break the bottles, 
and stave in the head of the casks, and destroy the contents thereof as 
a public nuisance, as he would have to shoot a mad dog in chase of his 
child or neighbor. Nor was it till discussions were held, and repeated 
experiments made by men of science, in different countries, that the 
public mind was disabused of error, and the friends of Temperance 
vindicated for including intoxicating drinks of all kinds, whether dis- 
tilled or fermented, among the articles to be avoided as always injuri- 
ous as beverages. These changes in our own views from time to time, 
should ever remind us to judge with charity those who do not imme- 
diately change with us. 

The Communion question, as it was called, the discussion of which 

fly agitated the public mind, and threatened for a season to destroy 
the harmony, if not the very existence of the Temperance organization, 
was not introduced by the organization, or any branch of it, but was 

3 on the State Society by the opposers of entire abstinence, on 
the plea that while intoxicating wine was used, and commanded to be 
used at the Lord's Table, we had no right to condemn its use in mod- 
eration at other tables. The discussion of this question was constantly 
urged by opposers of total abstinence, and for a long time avoided by 
the Society, till at length it was boldly asserted, and publicly pro- 
claimed in the newspapers, that I was myself " opposed to wine at the 
Lord's Table." 

About this period, and before the report had been extensively circu- 
lated, a Temperance convention was held at Buffalo, in 1835, to decide 
whether the Society should adopt the pledge of total abstinence from 
all that can intoxicate. I took with me to that convention a resol 

ted by the Executive Committee of the State Society, of which I 
was chairman, disavowing all intention to interfere with this question 
in relation to the use of wine at the communion. But the Business 

iruttee of the conventiuii thought it unwise to bring such a resolu- 
tion forward to arrest the progress of an unfounded rumor, put in 
circulation in a single locality. When I returned to Albany from the 
convention, which decided by only a single negative that it was the 
duty of the State Society to advocate total abstinence from all that can 
intoxicate, I found the imputation of my opposition to the use of wine 



ON THE COMMUNION QUESTION. 55 

at the communion had been so extended, and so generally believed, 
that Temperance men and Anti-Temperance men seemed to be com- 
bined against me; and the press, both political and religious, uttered 
only the language of denunciation. And although I published a dis- 
claimer in the Evening Journal* immediately (October, 1835), yet 
falsehood traveled so fast, that truth has even yet hardly overtaken 
it. I saw there was no avoiding the discussion — that the real question 
at issue must be distinctly stated, and the charge implied, fully and 
fairly met. And although dragged before the public without provoca- 
tion, I did meet it; and to show how unfounded the report was which 
was put in circulation, and the disadvantage under which it placed me 
before the public, I will give a letter from an individual who was the 
innocent cause of giving rise to a charge against me, which at the time 
bore on me with such injurious effect, and such a crushing weight. 
Had this letter, which follows, been published at the time, and the 
origin of the unfounded accusations been immediately made known, I 
should at once have been placed on the vantage ground before the public, 
but it was not so made known; on the contrary, nearly two years 
elapsed before its publication, which took place 10th June, 1837, in 
the Xew York American, then edited by Charles King, the present 
honored President of Columbia College, who while editor of that 
exemplary political paper, always gave me an impartial hearing; and 
I wish here, after a lapse of twenty and more years, to render him my 
public thanks for his kindness. The letter is as follows, and probably 
did not meet the eye of one in ten thousand who had been made to 
believe that I was little short of an Infidel, " beixg- opposed to 

WINE AT THE LORD'S TABLE. 55 

Farmington, Ct., May 17, 1837. 
Dear Sir: — It has recently corne to iny knowledge, that a distinguished 
clergyman, whilst delivering a sermon to a large congregation in the city 
of Xew York, in which he spoke of the ultraism of the times, expressed him- 
self in substance as follows, viz: "That so extravagant and reckless were 
some of the advocates of the Temperance cause, that they had stolen into 
the church of God, and desecrated the wine provided for the holy communion." 
Not long since, a gentleman visiting in the family of a highly respected 
citizen, residing in the western part of the State of New York, was told that 
" Mr. Delavan had secretly entered the Second Presbyterian Church, in Al- 
bany, and mixed water with the wine, intended for the communion." Other 
misrepresentations of the same character, in which Mr. Delavan's and my 

♦DISCLAIMER OF THE NEW YORK STATE TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. 

The Executive Committee of the New York State Temperance Society, being 
aware that a report has been industriously circulated, that it was their design to dis- 
pense with the use of wine at the Lord's Supper, deem it to be their duty to disclaim 
utterly any such intention. They believe that the ' ; Fruit of the Vine " is one of the 
essential elements of that sacred ordinance. The Committee have never, for a 
moment, entertained a wish or thought that the "Fruit of the Vine/' as used by our 
Lord, should be withdrawn from the sacramental table. 

By order of the Executive Committee, 

E. C. DELAVAN, Chairman. 

Albany, Oct. 1, 1635 



56 LETTER TO GENL. COCKE OF VA. 

name were distinctly mentioned, have abo come to my knowledge, which it 
is unnecessary to repeat. So long as the eensure connected with the transac- 
tion that gave rise to these misrepresentations was confined to myself, and 
was limited in extent, I did not deem it of consequence enough to require 
any particular notice. But since the misrepresentation is circulated and 
endorsed in various sections of the country, by individuals whose standing 
and influence will give it currency, to the injury of the Temperance cause, 
and to the detriment of a friend, who had nothing to do with the transaction 
in question, I feel called upon to make a simple statement of the facts. 

About two years since, being then a resident of Albany, and a member 
of the Second Presbyterian (Dr. Sprague's) Church in that city, two elders 
of that church called at my house, at a late hour of a Saturday evening, pre- 
vious to a communion, and stated, that they had just left a meeting of the 
session of the church, and that Dr. Sprague had stated to the session, that he 
had understood that I was in possession of some pure wine, and as they had 
difficulty in procuring such as was pure, suggested that a committee be 
appointed to ask if I would furnish enough for the use of the table the next 
day. I replied to the elders, that I had Maderia wine, that I had no doubt 
came directly from that island ; but notwithstanding this, I did not consider 
it pure, as all Maderia wines had a considerable admixture of brandy; that 
Dr. Beck had analyzed some of the same kind, and found it contained alcohol 
equal to 42 percent, of brandy. I did not, therefore, consider it proper to 
be used in the communion, inasmuch as the wines of Palestine, and pure 
wines generally, did not contain more alcohol than was equal to about 15 or 
20 per cent, of brandy; and moreover, there was good reason to suppose that 
even those wines were in ancient times reduced by adding two or three parts 
of water, when drunk by respectable people and when used in the com- 
munion.* I added that I was unwilling to furnish such wine as mine to be 
used in the communion; but if they chose to take it with such an addition 
of water as would reduce it to about the strength of the wines of Palestine, 
they were welcome to as much as they might want. They made no objection 
to my proposition, informed me how much they should want, and the next 
morning the sexton of the church was sent to my house, and I furnished the 
quantity desired, reduced in the manner proposed. The whole transaction 
was unsought on my part, and unexpected to me, nor did I consult or advise 
with any one on the subject. I was present at the communion, and left town 
the following morning, not dreaming that any dissatisfaction existed. On 

*It is yet an open question whether water was used for diluting wine for the com- 
munion in the early history of the church, on account of its containing- alcohol, or on 
account of the thick ropy state of the unintoxicating wine as it was usually pre- 
served, and as abundantly proved by ancient writers. In one case water would only 
dilute an intoxicating drink — "the mocker," in the other to dilute a pure, healthful 
and nutritious wine. In a note attached to ihe 1 1th verse of the xl chapter of Gen- 
esis, in Baxter's Comprehensive Bible, will be found the following account of wine 
making and wine drinking in the primitive ages of the world: -'FROM THIS WE 
FIND THAT WINE ANCIENTLY WAS THE MERE EXPRESSED JUICE 
OF THE GRAPH. WITHOUT FERMENTATION THE SAKA OR CUP 
BEARER TOOK THE BUNCH. PRESSED THE JUICE INTO THE CUP. AND 
INSTANTLY DELIVERED IT TO HIS MASTER." 

'•Thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, 
destroy it not, for a blessing is in it." Isaiah lxv, 3. 

Pliny, who lived about the time of our Saviour, says good wine was that which 
was destitute of spirit. Book 4, chap. 12 Plutarch calls that the best wine which 
is harmless; that the most useful which has the least strength ; and that the most 
wholesome in which nothing was added to the juice of the grape. Evidence of the 
above cnaracter, as to the existence and healthfulness of uuintoxicating wine, co«L^d 
be greatly multiplied. 



ON THE COMMUNION QUESTION. 57 

my return in a few weeks, I found that the church had been much excited 
o,n the subject, and that there was a general impression that I had practiced 
a deception, by offering to furnish some pure wine for the communion, and 
instead of pure wine, had furnished weak wine and water. I took no further 
notice of the matter than to send a written statement to the pastor, similar 
to what I have now written, nor should I now do so, but for the reasons 
already stated. I am yours very sincerely, 

JOHN T. NORTON. 

To give you some faint idea of the character and spirit of the con- 
troversy, especially on one side of it, and the public feeling at the 
time by the false charge brought against me, I quote, as specimens, and 
merely specimens, which might be greatly extended, of epithets 
applied to me by a single opponent, and a Reverend Doctor of Divinity, 
in his communications in favor of the wine that intoxicates for the 
Lord's Supper, in place of wine the fruit of the vine, advocated by 
me, in a state which would not intoxicate : — 

" Presumptuous and impious statements — foul aspersions — assault on the 
most solemn ordinances of our religion — all the wise and holy men of the 
land are opposed to his views, and contemplate them with indignation and 
horror — blasphemous presumption — this is a monstrous, daring attempt to 
banish from the communion table the element the Son of God consecrated — 
presumptuous attack upon an ordinance,, and through it upon the character 
of Christ — antidote to the poison — prevarications and perversions of Scrip- 
ture — flood of error — he has impeached the benevolence, and by consequence 
the divinity of the Son of God — another such instance of vanity and presump- 
tion — shocking impiety, aiming, as in fact it does, a blow at the divinity of 
the Son of God — involves the inspiration of the Scriptures, and equally the 
wisdom and benevolence, and consequently the divinity of Christ— alarmed 
at the indignation, <fcc. — after all the fog in which Mr. D. has endeavored to 
involve his views — his pretensions to candor are pretensions and nothing more 
— he has practiced abundantly on the credulity of the public — I have reason 
to believe that there is more of poetry than truth in this excuse — shocking 
language — it is a deliberate attempt to deceive — a tissue of falsehoods — 
absurdities and blasphemies — he has the hardihood to affirm — this amazing 
perversion of truth — his own gross prevarication — after all his quibbling." 

And after applying to me these epithets, and after a full review of 
them, and his labors, he remarked: — 

iC I have not penned a sentence, nor a word, which with my present 
views I should desire to erase" It is only just, however, to remark, 
that after applying to me the epithets above quoted, and re-indorsing 
them as above quoted, he very charitably ascribed my views on the 
communion question (those views only extending to the kind of wine 
proper for that sacred ordinance), to an " aberration of intellect." 
How far such epithets should have been applied by a Christian minis- 
ter to a Christian brother of the same church, under an " aberration 
of intellect," is a question I will not take upon myself to decide. 

The same Rev. gentleman compared me to Judas Iscariot. cc 1 
prefer," said he, " the character of the impetuous Peter who drew his 
sword to the insinuating Judas, who betrayed his Master." But 



58 LETTER TO GENL. COCKE OE VA. 

here, let it be remembered, that the rashness of Peter, as well as the 
treachery of Judas, was rebuked by Jesus. Christ; and that when 
rebuked, Peter, whom this Reverend gentleman wished to imitate, 
obedient to his Lord's command, "put up his sword ;" and in another 
case, " went out and wept bitterly. 33 

Happy would it be if all Christians, and especially all Christian 
ministers, who have heretofore oifended, or are now offending, by imi- 
tating the impetuous Peter, were to cancel the offence by imitating his 
repentance and reformation. 

As a matter of history alone, do I refer to the spirit in which this 
controversy was conducted. And while in some cases that spirit can- 
not be defended, yet I can and do fully estimate the motives of those 
learned divines, who wrote in opposition to my views. They undoubt- 
edly felt that in my zeal to promote the cause of Temperance, I was 
laying sacrilegious hands upon one of the most holy ordinances of our 
Religion; and as watchmen, set to guard Truth, and arrest the spread 
of Error, they felt impelled, by a sense of duty to the church, to 
expose what they, in the commencement of the discussion, considered 
a great fallacy. 

In 1842, this same report was revived, and circulated in the news- 
papers, in a modified form, to wit: " that I was in favor of water at 
the Lord 3 s Supper. 33 This (understanding that I was to be crushed), 
I repelled, by requesting letters from leading individuals with whom I 
was most intimate and confidential, and with whom I had been in free 
correspondence on the subject. In response to that request, the follow- 
ing gentlemen stated, " that in all my correspondence and conversa- 
tions during this period, they never heard me express a desire to sub- 
stitute anything for wine at the Lord 3 s Table; that my only object 
appeared to be, to ascertain the kind of wine used by the Saviour, and 
to substitute that at the communion table, in place of the vile intoxica- 
ting and adulterated compounds known to be in use, and the use of 
which at the Lord 3 s Table was plead in their own defence by the rum- 
sellers and the rum and wine drinkers, and the prqfligateof all classes. 33 
The names of the individuals alluded to are the following : — 

E-ev. Dr. E. Nott, Pres. Union College; Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, Bishop 
of Penn. ; Hon. Ira Harris, Supreme Judge, Albany; Gen. John H. Cocke, 
late President American Temperance Union, Va. ; Hon. Gerrit Smith, Peters- 
boro; Hon. Erastus Corning, Albany; John T. Norton, Earmington, Conn.; 
Rev. John Marsh, D. D., Secretary American Temperance Union ; Archibald 
Campbell, Deputy Secretary of State of New York; Rev. Dr. I.N. Wyckoff, 
Albany; Hon. A. Tabor, Albany; Israel Smith, Esq., Albany; 0. Scovill, 
Esq., Albany; Prof. C. R. Lee, M. D., New York; Hon. R. H. Walworth, 
late Chancellor of the State, Saratoga; Hon. Bradford R. Wood, Albany; 
Rev. Dr. Justin Edwards, Andover, Mass. 

You will understand that the above gentlemen are here cited only as 
witnesses to a matter of fact; and not that they are from this to be 



ON THE COMMUNION QUESTION. 59 

held committed to the views which make up the hody of this commu- 
nication. 

And now my dear friend, after the excitement of the discussion 
growing out of the controversy has passed away, a controversy in 
which I caused to be circulated near seven millions of documents, I 
wish to ask of you, in all sincerity, whether, if this controversy had 
not taken place, and the facts established as to the nature and effects 
of intoxicating drinks, the Temperance host now would with such 
unanimity and zeal be urging forward the cause of prohibition of the 
sale of all that can intoxicate as a beverage ? 

As my sole object was the development of truth, it was my prac- 
tice in all these controversies on these great questions, to publish and 
scatter broadcast, and at great cost and labor, the facts which had 
been ascertained, and the arguments which had been employed on 
both sides — taking it for granted, that those openly and under their 
own signatures, opposing my views, did so from an equal desire to 
arrive at truth with myself. 

You are aware that I have published five numbers of the "Enquirer" 
principally devoted to this question. I may, if my life is spared, and 
the cause of truth demands it, continue the cc Enquirer, 55 on my own 
responsibility, and publish all communications on both sides, which 
are written in a Christian spirit, Even this communication, you of 
course understand, is on my own personal responsibility, and commits 
no Temperance Society or Committee with which I may be connected. 

I do not make these statements for the purpose of renewing the 
question by Temperance organizations . That question has been already, 
as will be perceived, extensively discussed, and it is now for the 
churches to decide as to the kind of wine proper for the Lord's Table 
Still, as an individual opinion, speaking on my own responsibility, and 
for myself only, I cannot refrain from saying, that it crosses my sense 
of propriety, to find in laws inhibiting the sale of intoxicating drink 
as a beverage, an exception in favor of their sale FOR SACRA- 
MENTAL PURPOSES. 

Not that I have ever been opposed to the use of wine at the com- 
munion, but merely to the use of spurious, enforced and intoxicating 
wine, a kind of wine I believe never made, used or sanctioned by our 
blessed Lord. " The fruit of the vine," is the only term used in the 
sacred volume connected with the Lord's Supper.* It is now gener- 

*We know that our Lord and his cftsciples had met to celebrate the feast of the 
Passuver; and we k;:ow that the Jews were scrupulous in using at this ceremony 
none but unleavened bread and uiifermented wine. And it is certain that we have 
no account that any oilier kind of wine was introduced when our Saviour merged the 
Passover into the Lord's Supper. Indeed, the only words used to define the contents 
o{ the "cup," are i; the fruit of the vine. : ' Here is the language of the three evan- 
gelists who record the occasion: 

Man. xxvi. 27-9. — And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, say- 
ing : Brink ye all of it; for this is my blood of" the new testament, which is shed for 
many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of 



60 LETTER TO GENL. COCKE OF VA. 

ally admitted, by those who have examined the subject, that the "fruit 
of the vine," is wine, whether intoxicating or not. # This being the 
case, I would ask, and with becoming deference, and in view of the 
mighty reform in progress, of all professing Christians of every sect, 
whether it would not be becoming in them at once to look deeply and 
prayerfully into the bearings of this question; and if it is found that 
the presence of the intoxicating cup, as now generally administered at 
the table of the Lord, is a stumbling block, and that stumbling block 
can legitimately be removed, by the substitution of the " fruit of the 
vine' 5 in an unadulterated and unintoxicating state, whether it is not 
their bounden duty to substitute the same as soon as practicable rf 

Here is a great, important and vital question, tying, as I think at 
the very root of the Temperance Reform, which belongs to the church 
to consider and settle. As a member thereof, I speak as I have a right 
to speak, and I trust every other member who feels as I do will speak 
in the same manner. It has long been my belief, and still is my belief, 
that the purchase by the churches, for the communion, of intoxicating 
liquors, generally, if not always, of the most impure and disgusting 
character, and the " except for sacramental purposes" in Prohibitory 

the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's 
kingdom. 

Mark xiv, 23-5. — And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to 
them, and they all drank of it. And he said unto them: This is my blood of the new 
testament, which is shed for many. Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of 
the fruit of tiie vine, until that day lhat I drink it new in the kingdom of God. 

Luke xxii, 19, 10. — This do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after 
supper, saying : This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. 

The only words used by our Saviour defining- the ingredients of the *'cup," it will 
be seen, are " the fruit of the vine ; " now the " fruit of the vine" when "new " 
is not intoxicating. When it has become intoxicating, it is no longer new, but old. 
Besides, it can be abundantly proved that the wines of commerce are made up of 
other ingredients besides "the fruit of the vine." Nay, most of it has none of "the 
fruit of the vine " in it. '-The fruit of the vine " — in its fresh and newest state — is 
unintoxicating. The wines which we substitute are not only intoxicating and adul- 
terated, but absolutely forged and counterfeit — the product not of the "vine," but 
of the Still, the Brew-house and the Drug-shop ; and the common use of which tends 
to debase and destroy mankind. Is it possible lhat an inquiry into so solemn a depart- 
ure from the original institution can injure either Religion or Temperance ? In this 
connection, the learned and pious Dr. Clarke, has left on record the following emphatic 
language i-—' 1 This is a most wicked and awful perversion of the Lord's ordinance 
The matters made use of by Jesus Christ on this solemn occasion, were unleavened 
bread and the produce of the vine. i. e.. pure wine. To depart in the least from his 
institution, when it is in our power to follow it literally, would be extremely culpable." 

* ,; The fruit of the vine" i»iay be legitimately fermented or unfermented. — Rev. 
William B. Sprague, B. B. 

t Christians, is it not part of almost every prayer you offer, lhat God will soon open 
upon the world the millennial day ? Are you acting in consistency with your prayers, 
by lending your influence to help forward this glorious cause of moral improvement, 
which ?)iusi prevail ere the millennium shall fully come ? Are you exerting any influ- 
ence, directly or remotely, to retard this cause ? Do you make the poison, or do you 
use it. or do you sell it? Never open your lips then to pray for the millennium. — Rev 
William B. Sprague, B. B. 

That alcohol, whether found In rum, brandy or wine, is "poison," is conceded on 
all hands. It is classed among poisons, because, says a learned writer, it is one of 
" those substances which are known by physicians as capable of altering or destroy- 



ON THE COMMUNION QUESTION. 61 

Laws, are among the greatest hindrances to the final triumph of Pro- 
hibition and the Temperance Reformation.* 

The clergyman who preached the sermon referred to in the litter 
already given, before a congregation of over 2,000 persons in the city 
of New York, was direct from Albany. One of his hearers, a personal 
friend of mine, took steamboat the next day to ask of me an explana- 
tion, Ci for " said he, " no man present supposed for a moment but 
you were the person alluded to." I wrote to this clergyman explain- 
ing the whole transaction, asking him in common fairness and Chris- 
tian obligation to do me justice, and correct the unfounded report to 
which he had given so wide a circulation ; but I got no reply — and 
even at this day, individuals, friends, have told me that they were 
under an impression that I had in some way been led into acts of great 
impropriety on this question — and no wonder. In all this severe trial 
and controversy, I suffered greatly in feeling and estrangement of val- 
ued friends; my locks whitened rapidly; of about one hundred and 
fifty families in Albany, who were in the habit of visiting mine, over 
one hundred immediately drew off— for said some of them, " if Mr. 
Delavan will by his folly disregard the usages of society, try to banish 
wine from the Lord's table, and render himself ridiculous, he must . 
take the consequences. 35 A few noble friends however stood by me, 
but they were very few. Had it not been for them and an abiding 
conviction that God was with me and near me, I should, I do believe, 
have sunk under the pressure,, for the odds against me were fearful — 
learned men — scholars, were against me; as I trust honestly against 
me. While I, on my part had but little to sustain me but faith and a 
deep conviction that the truth and God was on my side. But this is 
now all past — I yet live, thank God; and without a single unkind 
feeling towards any one of my old opposers yet living. I feel it to be 
rny duty to devote whatever is left of me to the furtherance of this 
great cause, which you love so well, either to aid in purifying the com- 
munion cup, or in any proper shape it may present itself, so far as that 
shall be compatible with those other duties which in the providence 
of God I may be required elsewhere to perform. 

In conclusion, let me here reply to the practical question which is 
almost invariably asked when the communion question is discussed, 
viz: — iC How can we procure wine, the fruit of the vine, in an unintox- 
icating state for the sacrament, so as to avoid resorting to the vendors 

ing, in. a majority of cases, some of the functions necessary to life." — Dr. Romeyn 
Beck'' s Medical Jurisprudence. 

" The testimony of physicians is uniform and unequivocal. They pronounce alco- 
hol a poison. They teil us that it is so considered and classed by all writers on Mate- 
ria Medica; and they will even point out the precise place which it occupies among 
the ' vegetable narcotic poisons.' " — Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, Episcopal Bishop of JSew 
York. 

li That pure alcohol is poison, is an admitted fact." — Rev. Dr. E. Nott, President 
Union College. 

*"You are right; it is preposterous to fight against alcohol in other places and 
welcome it at the Lord's Table."— Hon. Gerrit Smith. 



62 LETTER TO GENL. COCKE OF VA. 

of intoxicating liquors, and using their fabricated compounds, and thus 
avoid the inserting in laws against the sale of intoxicating liquors as a 
beverage the clause of " except for sacramental purposes V 

In reply to this inquiry, I remark that in my opinion there is hardly 
a church, whose officers could not secure grapes in their season, in 
quantities sufficient to prepare wine for sacramental purposes. All 
they would have to do would be to press out the wine from the grapes, 
put it into bottles — cork the same, then plunge the mouth of the bot- 
tles thus corked into some melted substance, beeswax and rosin, or 
other substances used to secure preserves from fermentation, and then 
keep the bottles in the same position, upside clown, and deposit them 
in a cool place in the cellar for use when required. Thus the pure 
blood of the grape — the fruit of the vine — wine — unintoxicating wine, 
could always be secured. Or the same fruit of the vine could be boiled 
down to one-third, then bottled in the same way as above stated, and 
when wanted for use diluted with water; this would also be wine — 
inspissated wine. When I was in Italy, I had one hundred gallons 
of the pure fruit of the vine-wine, thus boiled down, and after keeping 
some of it for years here in my cellar, I sent a bottle of it to Professor 
Silliman, of Xew Haven, who after subjecting it to chemical test, 
informed me he could not find a particle of alcohol in it. 

Gerrit Smith writes me: " It must be more than twenty-five years 
since the little church with which I am connected, refused to use intox- 
icating liquors at the Lord's Table. During all this time we have used 
unintoxicating and pure wine. It is obtained from the dried grape or 
raisin." 

Thus you perceive, my friend, there need not be an insurmountable 
barrier in the way of introducing even in this country the fruit of the 
vine — wine — at the communion table, in an unintoxicating state — all 
that is wanting is the WILL, and, in my opinion, an enlightened con- 
science in regard to the question. 

Having been called upon by an elder of the church to which I 
belonged in Ballston, late on Saturday, for some of my pure unintox- 
icating wine for the communion next day (the same as tested by Pro- 
fessor Silliman), I declined, fearing another commotion like the one I 
had passed through in Albany. But being assured that the communion 
would have to be omitted unless I complied, I reluctantly furnished the 
wine, but on the condition that it must not be used without the con- 
sent of the pastor and officers of the church; and although thus used, 
a great commotion followed, and a grave charge brought against me for 
lending myself to such an innovation, if not desecration, of the holy 
communion. The whole matter was brought before an ecclesiastical 
court, before which I appeared, and although I was cleared from all 
blame in the premises, yet had I not so appeared (having been sent for 
by express), I should doubtless have been censured. The church 
went back to the use of the liquor of commerce, called wine, two sam- 
ples of which were furnished me, which J. W. Draper, M. D., Pro- 



ON THE COMMUNION QUESTION. 63 

fessor of Chemistry and Natural History, New York, examined, one 
sample contained (to say nothing of drugs) forty-four and two-thirds 
per cent., the other forty-two per cent, proof spirit. 

To my mind it is as clear as the noonday's sun, that the Bible recog- 
nizes various kinds of wine, good and bad; that ancient writers who 
lived before, at the time, and since our Saviour, recognized intoxicating 
and unintoxicating wines, pronouncing the former bad, and the latter 
good as a beverage; but learned men heretofore have treated the idea 
of the two kinds of wine, intoxicating and unintoxicating, with con- 
tempt, branding those having that idea as " conceited innovators ," 
insisting that nothing could be truly called wine except intoxicating, 
consequently nothing fit for the communion but such wine, and this 
too in the face of numerous texts in scripture, clearly defining the dis- 
tinction. cc AXD THE PRESSES SHALL BURST OUT WITH 2s T EW WIXE." 

Prov. iii, 10. Could the wine here referred to have been intoxicating, 
bursting out immediately from the press ? If the views of these learned 
men are sound they should be sustained; if not sound, and it is found 
that the church has departed from the original pure symbol, and 
adopted a corrupting one, the sooner the church makes the correction 
the better — and it does appear to me that the word wine is of small 
amount in the controversy, the " fruit of the vine," is the thing. 
That when the Bible recommends the use of wine, and without quali- 
fication, it is good wine; when it condemns the use of wine and with- 
out qualification, it is bad, deleterious and crime producing wine; for 
such wine no moderate use as a beverage or for communion, can, in 
my opinion, be defended. And it appears to me also, by making this 
distinction, the word of God is cleared from the charge of inconsis- 
tency, which the infidel has attempted to bring against it, by making 
it call the same thing " good " without qualification in one place, and 
" bad " without qualification in another. Because pure water is pro- 
nounced one of the greatest blessings as a drink, in the Bible, does it 
follow that the filthy water of the gutter and the fen is a blessing also 
for the like purpose ? I found even the use of my unintoxicating wine 
exposed me to the charge of wine drinking, indeed, to intemperance 
on wine, so that on the ground of expediency- 1 abandoned its use, for 
I conclude the doctrine of expediency with regard to the use of wine 
applies to good wine, not bad wine. 

I am, as ever, 

Your devoted friend, 

EDWARD C. DELAYAN. 



Note. — It is now about eight years since I was called upon by General Cocke of 
Virginia to make some explanation as to my course with regard to the Communion 
question — the letter to him now republished in this volume, was prepared in com- 
pliance with his wishes; the eight years which have elapsed since the letter was 
written, have not in any degree served to lessen in my mind the importance of the 
question to which the letter refers. 

The general use of intoxicating and fabricated liquor, called wine (but as & rule 



64 GENERAL COCKE'S REPLY. 

undeserving- the name), on the Lord's Table, is of vast import, and as I believe 
stands most formidably in the way. not only within, but without the pale of the 
Church of Christ, to tlie advance of true temperance, total abstinence from all that 
can intoxicate as a beverage. :So long- as "the mocker*' holds possession of the 
Communion cup. the great enemy of The human race will not in my opinion be 
much disturbed by the" Temperance Reformation. And may not the timidity with 
even temperance advocates approach this question, be one of the causes why 
the reformation is now in an inactive state ? 

In a letter received within a few days from a valued friend, he remarks: c; The 
great fault J have to find with you and Dr. Nott's temperance writings, is the undue 
use yo"i make of the Bible." Perhaps we are chargeable with this fault, if fault it 
is, still, as we are bid to -search the Scriptures.*-" way not search them relative to 
the wine, as well as other questions, seeing that it is a question largely introduced 
in the Bible — and seeing also it is appealed to by a large body of Christians as sanc- 
tioning the use of intoxicating wine as a beverage, as "well as a proper element for 
the Lord's Table ; and in addition thereto, they assert that the Savior of the world 
made and dispensed wine, intoxicating wine, the kind denounced in the Bible as u a 
mocker" On the other hand, a rapidly increasing host hi Great Britain and in 
this country, after labored and devout examination, have come to the conclusion 
that the Bible, rightly understood. doe< not sanction any kind of intoxicating liquor 
as a beverage in health or for Communion purposes. How important then, that dis- 
cussion should go on. until the question is finally settled The real friends of tem- 
perance l\o not favor ■• fallacies." but truth — and nothing but the truth will satisfy 
them ; they labor to destroy those " fallacies " which have held the world in bondage 
'.o strong drink, ever since the fall of Noah and Lot. E. C. D. 

Socm Ballston, August 15, 1S64. 



GENERAL COCKE'S LETTER IN REPLY. 

Bkemo, Virginia, Nov. 20, 1S56. 
Edward C. Dclavan, Esq., 

My Dear Feiexp : — My late absence from home, must be iny apology for 
not acknowledging the receipt of your late letter sooner. 

Had my mind reverted fully to all the reminiscences which your compre- 
hensive letter has so clearly brought back to my recollection. I know not 
that I should have been able to command the moral courage to urge you to 
recapitulate the history of the communion question as connected with the 
great Temperance reform; but. when I reflect, that great principles cannot 
be waived for personal consideration, I am brought fully to the conclusion — 
it is due to yourself, as well as the cause with which your name is identified, 
that a subject so connected with the success of the greatest moral revolution 
of the age, should be clearly set forth to the world. It appears to me hard 
to conceive a case to which the maxim more manifestly applies — Fiat justi- 
tia, mat ccelum.* 

In answer to your letter of the first October, I cannot hesitate to say, that 
but for indefatigable efforts in collecting and circulating the facts established 
the nature and effects of intoxicating drinks, in the course of this con- 
troversy especially, the Temperance host would have been greatly retarded, 
in attaining the high position it now triumphantly occupies in the cause of 
Prohibition. 

It is manifest, at first glance, at every contested point in the discussion, 
that disinterestedness and self-denial, on the one hand, stand in array 
agaiast sordid interest an.i self-indulgence, on the other. Christianity is 
essentially a religion requiring sacrifices. Witness Christ himself, the great 

* Let justice be done, though the heavens fall. 



GENERAL COCKE'S RJPLY. 65 

example of this truth; and the whole tenor of his gospel; all at open war- 
fare with the opposing host, under the self-indulgent banners of the world 
and the flesh. 

How this simple view of the matter does not bring over all the Christian 
world to the right side of the question, can only be accounted for by the fact 
that the insidious evil of intoxication has so long had dominion over the 
human mind, as to have become established — a legalized strong delusion ; 
let it be exposed. 

It would seem hardly necessa^ to do more for the ultimate success of the 
cause than to keep the above view before the public mind; but for the daring 
and outrageous pretensions of our adversaries, while ignoring the followiij^ 
undeniable facts, which require a passing notice, viz : — 

1st. That there was unintoxicating wine in common use when Christ was 
upon earth ; and that the terms he used in the institution of the eucharist, 
unequivocally mean this unintoxicating beverage. 

2dly. That the art of distillation, the principal instrument of giving to 
wine of commerce its intoxicating character, was not discovered until cen- 
turies after the canon of Scripture was closed. 

3dly. That since the discovery, it has become the means, together with 
the other discoveries of modern chemistry, of changing the character of all 
the wines of commerce, and that to a degree of making a deleterious com- 
pound called wine, without a particle of the fruit of the vine in it. 

Yet, nevertheless, this anti-Christian doctrine is still maintained and 
acquiesced in, that the now universally adulterated and enforced wine of 
commerce, unavoidably including the base and often poisonous counterpart 
already alluded to, is as suitable an element of the Lord's Supper as the 
consecrated fruit of the vine. 

But the most adroit stroke of policy yet devised by our adversaries is the 
exemption clause in the Prohibitory Laws — virtually changing the consecra- 
ted element with which Christ instituted the sacrament, viz : "the fruit of 
the vine,' 5 and substituting therefor the injurious distilment of man : s inven- 
tion — ardent spirit. And while the church of Christ do not protest against 
this desecration, and by their mighty power and only delegated authority on 
earth put it down, the consummation of their mission to evangelize the 
world, must be awfully postponed. 

How can the conclusion be avoided, that He who knew all things from the 
end to the beginning, (i and is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity," 
intended to exclude from the holy sacrament this wicked alcoholic invention 
of man — the most prolific source of evil on earth. 

But why, it may be asked, did He not expressly forbid it — forestalling the 
evil growing out of the invention. The answer presents itself — to try the 
faithfulness of his professing followers. That it might be made manifest to 
the world who are willing to be led by the spirit of the Gospel at the expense 
of self-denial, and who are willing to shelter their self-indulgence and pro- 
tect their cupidity under the absence of literal prohibition in Holy Writ. 

Here the question may still be urged upon every fair-minded Christian 
is it possible to conceive, consistently with what we know and believe of the 
immaculate and omniscient character of Christ — who instituted the eucha 
rist with the fruit of the vine, unintoxicating wine — that to celebrate it as a 
matter of choice and not of necessity, with the wine of commerce, now 
known to be universally enforced by the intoxicating principle, and at the 
risk of using a foul compound without a particle of the juice of the grape 
in it — must be an offence, a crying offence against the Master of the feast. 

In conclusion, it may be remarked that in the providence of God there are 
constantly occurring new developments in connection with the Temperance 



66 GENERAL COCKE'S REPLY. 

reformation, proving that this wonderful movement in the moral history of 
man has been brought forth to "try men's souls." 

Yours, &c, 

JOHN H. COCKE. 



EXTRACT FROM A LETTER BY HON. NEAL DOW. 

Portland, Maine, Nov, 20, 1856. 
Edward C. Delavan, Esq., 

My Dear Friend:— * * ** ** *** 

As to the (C communion question," I have no fear but the truth will finally 
prevail. One great aid to this, undoubtedly, will be the fact that in all the 
nation there is not to be purchased a gallon or bottle even, of the pure fruit 
of the vine, unless it may possibly be some relict of an old importation. All 
the wines of commerce are fabrications — the base being the neutral spirit 
of the shops — made from new rum or whiskey, flavored and colored to imitate 
exactly the various brandies, wines and other liquors, and reduced with water 
to the proper standard, and very often mixed with poisons more active and 
concentrated than alcohol is. 

In the wine countries, this same neutral spirit is also employed; and in 
France the beet root spirit is employed by all the (C wine houses'' in the 
fabrication of brandies, wines and other liquors; the whole ii brew" being 
utterly innocent of grape. All this I had recently from a Frenchman, an 
agent of a great wine house in France ; who admitted to me that this fabri- 
cation was universal, the grape crop having been cut off for years. But he 
maintained, that if no deleterious drugs were introduced — and his house never 
used them — the article thus produced was in every respect equal to the gen- 
uine, because the imitation in every particular is so exact, that the most 
skillful and experienced judges cannot tell the difference. All this must in 
time convince the most obstinate, that by employing the wines of commerce 
in the communion, they do not obey the injunction or follow the example of 
Christ — but in fact do violence to the whole tone and spirit of the Gospel. 

Truly yours, 

NEAL DOW. 



EXTRACTS FROM FATHER MATHEWS SPEECHES. 

e c I have no hesitation in saying that strong drink was Anti-Christ; it 
was opposed to the principles of Christ — to His example — to his design and 
to his reign." 

ic All are bound by the Gospel precept to practice Temperance, and that 
the same Gospel advises to aspire to perfection, and that total abstinence is 
the perfection of Temperance." 

" Total abstinence is not a novelty or an innovation, strong drink is the 
innovation, and it had no sooner been introduced than men were led astray 
by it." 

" Total abstinence is evidently the lever by which great good could be 
effected. It therefore becomes the duty of all to assist in working that 
6 lever.' " 



No. 7. 
LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 



INTRODUCTION. 



By the written request of several valued friends, I republish in this work a series 
of letters which originally appeared in the first number of " The Enquirer, 1 ' December, 
1841, with regard to " the kind of wine most suitable for Communion purposes." To 
these Letters was attached an extended appendix, containing numerous communica- 
tions from learned and distinguished clergymen, chemists, physicians, and laymen, 
sustaining every position set forth in the Letters ; these evidences are of great value, 
but space will not allow of their introduction here. These Letters occupy in this fourth 
edition of this work the space occupied in the former editions by a valuable essay on 
tobacco ; that article can be issued in a separate tract, if desired, as the National So- 
ciety holds the stereotype plates of that essay as well as this work. I will add, that 
this volume has been in the printer's hands for several years, added to from time 
to time. It was originally intended to be limited to 100 pages, not for sale, but 
to answer calls on me for Temperance Publications, my stock having become ex- 
hausted. With these explanations I send the Letters, as requested, to the printer, 
feeling assured that the reader will make all due allowance for imperfections, consid- 
ering the period in which they were penned, and the little light (at the time) which 
had been shed on the question ; as also for the want of system in the arrangement 
of this volume, made up as it has been at long intervals of time. E. C. D. 

New York, 1866. 



LETTER I. 

South Ballston, Saratoga Co., Dec. 1, 1841. 

Dear Christian Brethren. — The great principle of the Temperance Bef- 
ormation, that intoxicating drinks are never beneficial, but always injuri- 
ous, to persons in health, seems now to be firmly established ; not that the 
practice of all, or even of the majority, conforms to this principle, but- 
few or none now publicly advocate the use of such drinks as a means of 
keeping in good order either the physical or moral nature of man. 

The effect of Total Abstinence on communities and individuals is nc 



68 LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 

longer doubtful, and examples are now so numerous, that the most skep- 
tical must be convinced that the world would be the better and not the 
worse were the principles universally practiced. 

The fears of some good men, that somewhere or somehow in this new 
scheme for the improvement of human beings, infidelity would be found 
concealed and nourished, seem also to have passed away ; and all agree 
that men are not only as good citizens, but as good Christians, though 
they never taste the intoxicating cup. 

The reformation having, by the blessing of the Almighty, been thus far 
so wonderfully sustained and established, it has seemed to me in the last 
degree important that some one should strive to awaken professing 
Christians to the propriety and expediency of banishing the intoxicating 
cup from the table of the Lord, and substituting in its place the "Fruit 
of the Vine," free from fermentation or adulteration of any kind. "While 
I regret that a more able writer than myself has not appeared to address 
you, I trust you will bear with me, and not think it presuming in an 
unlearned layman to beg your kind attention to a subject which seems 
peculiarly the province of ministers of the Gospel, or learned men whose 
researches and studies have qualified them to instruct you. My apology 
for trespassing on your time is. that my mind has for several years been 
deeply interested, and I have been led to consider with great care what- 
ever has been written in Great Britain or our country in reference to this 
question ; moreover, the use of intoxicating wine at the Sacrament has 
appeared to me one of the greatest hindrances in the way of those who are 
laboring to induce all to abstain from strong drink as a beverage. 

I fear many sincere Christians will be alarmed at what they think the 
boldness, if not the actual impiety, of this suggestion. There are around 
the sacred ordinances of the Supper so many sanctified associations, so 
many solemn interests, that the pious mind shrinks from this discussion, 
lest the hallowed institution should surfer, or the Saviour they love be dis- 
honored ; and I am far from being insensible to the value of this principle ; 
it ought to be cherished ; the pious mind should never be disturbed without 
good reasons, and to answer some great end. I hope to be able to convince 
you that there are reasons of sufficient magnitude, and of great practical 
importance, now in operation, to demand an immediate investigation as 
to the kind of wine proper to be used at the Communion table. The cause 
of Total Abstinence, as a beverage, is no longer in danger from an unpopular, 
or even a wrong movement by an individual member, and I desire to be 
expressly understood that it is as a Christian, and not as an officer of any 
association, that I make this appeal ; and that no Temperance Association 
is at all responsible for errors, if such be found in the letters I am about 
to address you. Affectionately yours, etc. , 

E. C. D. 



LETTEES EELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 69 



LETTER II. 

Dear Brethren — In order to understand what is called the ' ' Commu- 
nion Question," it is well to go hack to the period in our country when 
there was no thought or discussion as to the kind of wine proper to be 
used, because none, or very few, understood the nature of the substance 
they drank. They called everything the Fruit of the Vine that was sold 
under the name of ivine, and thus the wine dealer, or the wine fabricator, be- 
came the judge of what was proper for the Sacrament, and the Gospel, 
which distinctly specified not ivine, but " the Fruit of the Vine," was over- 
looked as authority, and whisky distilled from corn, rye, or potatoes, cider 
pressed from apples, the juice of the currant preserved with alcohol, and 
all frequently mixed with drugs of the most poisonous character, were 
drank as wine, though they contained not a drop of the juice of the grape. 
I know that many churches did endeavor to procure the purest fermented 
wine, which was generally Madeira, well enforced with distilled spirits, 
and this was only obtained by the more wealthy societies. An extensive 
dealer informed me that he had for many years served a large district 
of country with Communion wine ; that he not only kept imported wine, 
but manufactured large quantities himself from whisky and drugs, and 
that in nine cases out of ten, officers of churches would take the whisky 
wine because it was the cheapest, although frequently informed that it 
did not contain a drop of the Fruit of the Vine. It will, I think, readily 
be conceded, that if it is certainly ascertained that liquors not containing 
the ' ' Fruit of the Vine' ' are constantly sold and drank under the name 
of wine, that to use such for the Gospel symbol will in no manner pro- 
mote holiness or sanctification in a church— and it may be said no symbol 
can do this ; but there will generally be found an aptness in the symbol to 
the thing signified. God insisted on cleansing in the ancient ritual, and 
thus pure water is used in baptism. Let us illustrate the Sacrament 
of the Supper by the water used in baptism. What Christian parent 
would be willing to have the water with which his infant child is bap- 
tized in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost, mingled with 
such substances as compose the liquor generally used at the Supper ? Pure 
water is the only proper symbol of baptism. The pure blood of the grape 
for the Supper. May not the Church of Christ have greatly suffered from 
this ignorant use of this impure substance ? And will she not certainly 
suffer in purity, if, when the means of knowledge are in the hands of all 
her members, she still continue its use ? 

Yours, etc., E. C. D. 



70 LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 



LETTER III. 

Dear Brethren — I will now endeavor to state how of necessity the 
Communion Question arose out of the change of the pledge of abstinence 
from ardent spirit to that of total abstinence from all that can intoxicate. 
Not that the most strenuous advocates of that change then saw this effect. 
Tbey plead for the abandonment from all alcoholic drinks, because they 
felt that drunkenness would still prevail, though not a soul drank rum, 
brandy, whisky, or gin under their appropriate names ; and though the 
moderate drinker had the right to drink fermented liquors, yet that it 
was expedient and Christian to yield that right to effect a great and 
benevolent object. But a very few then understood that the principle 
of intoxication, which was the great enemy the Temperance Cause aimed 
to overthrow, was created entirely by fermentation, and not the product 
of distillation. My own conviction of this truth was established by the 
analysis of my own stock of wines by Prof. Lewis C. Beck ; they consisted 
of the most celebrated, and were all or nearly all imported ; he found 
them to contain alcohol (the Port and Madeira) equal to 42J to 48J per 
cent, of the strength of brandy, or more than double the alcohol resulting 
from natural fermentation: With this general ignorance of fermented 
wines, or the liquors sold and used as wine, it is not wonderful that few 
were found willing to place it in the same class with what was termed 
ardent spirit, which had come very generally to be considered as a poison 
when used as a beverage in health, therefore immoral to drink it. It is 
not surprising that good and learned ministers of the Gospel, and Christian 
laymen, who had been good old pledged Temperance men, who had raised 
their voices and opened their purses freely to advance the cause on that 
ground, should, when the new pledge was introduced or advocated, throw 
their influence against it, and that they should declare publicly that the 
triumph of Total Abstinence would be the triumph of infidelity. In the 
first Temperance convention ever held in this country for discussing the 
Total Abstinence question, which took place in Albany, Feb. 25th, 1834, I 
introduced the following preamble and resolution : 

Whereas, There is so much evidence of the almost universal adulteration 
of fermented liquors, and of wines particularly, by the use of alcohol, and 
of the great extent to which the manufacture of factitious wines is car- 
ried, as to render it almost, if not quite, certain that the pure juice of the 
grape is seldom procured in this country ; and 

Whereas, It is now understood and generally believed that the reforma- 
tion of the drunkard is utterly hopeless so long as he continues to use the 
smallest quantity of any intoxicating drinks, and 

Whereas, It is important to remove all objections against uniting with 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 71 

Temperance societies, now urged by a numerous and efficient portion of our 
citizens ; therefore 

Resolved, That those members of Temperance societies who wholly abstain 
from intoxicating liquors as an ordinary drink, present to the world a 
consistent and efficacious example, which this meeting" would warmly 
commend to the imitation of every friend of Temperance . 

The passage of this preamble and resolution was powerfully, and I 
doubt not conscientiously, opposed, not only by a doctor of divinity, but 
by a doctor of law. Says one, " The Scriptures permitted and sanctioned 
the use of (intoxicating) wine. Jesus Christ used it, and consecrated it by 
making it one of the elements in a religious ordinance, instituted by him- 
self ; and more than this, he manufactured it, and would gentlemen con- 
demn the example of the Lord of Glory V ' Says another, ' c We are 
looking to the Great Head of the Church for success in this cause ; shall 
we proceed contrary to his example ? If the whole world should go for 
the preamble and resolution, the speaker should stand by the Bible and 
the example of the Saviour." Of the document containing these remarks, 
and others of a kindred character, the New York State Temperance 
Society circulated 100,000. 

What were the friends of Total Abstinence to do in these circumstances ? 
They were fully convinced that the Temperance Reformation must either 
be given up, or that all means of intoxication must be abandoned, dis- 
tressed as they were to hear themselves condemned in public assemblies, 
from the pulpit, and by the press, as inculcating doctrines contrary to the 
Word of God and the example of Christ, denounced on all sides as fanatics 
and ultraists, and an almost universal cry that they had ruined the 
noblest of causes ; yet they felt strong in the truth of their position, and 
persevered in efforts to sustain it. Here and there one and another began 
to ask, ' ; Was it really fermented intoxicating wine that our Saviour made 
at Cana. and that he used as the symbol of his blood at the institution 
of the Supper?" Thus they were led to the Bible and to history to ascer- 
tain whether in fact they did sanction the use of such wine. 

Many thanks are due to those who in the face of persecution and obloquy 
first discussed this question. Among these were Prof. Stewart, Edwin Ja^nes, 
M.D., L. M. Sargent, Esq., Mr. Wm. Goodell, Rev. Mr. Duffield, Rev. Dr. 
Chapin, and others. These gentlemen appreciated at that early day the 
leading facts and principles which have established the reputation of the 
valuable Essays known by the titles of Bacchus and Anti-Bacchus, and in- 
deed there is no doubt that the early discussion of these gentlemen, and 
others in this country, first induced the author of these Essays to think and 
write on the subject. A very general excitement was produced by this slight 
agitation of the question ; many good men were for a time distressed and 
offended, and walked no more with those so universally denounced as 



72 LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 

fanatics, but the greatest concern and distress were evinced by makers 
and venders of factitious drinks. They saw clearly that if they could no 
longer plead the example of the Saviour and its use at the Sacrament^ 
good men would soon cease purchasing and drinking their importations 
and mixtures. We are sorry to declare, but truth demands it, that the 
clamors for a while prevailed ; the opposition appeared to triumph, and 
"Temperance down" was echoed from tavern to grog-shop — from one 
extremity of the nation to the other. Still the friends of Total Absti- 
nence held on ; though truth compels me to say — and I say it with deep 
mortification — they were for a time obliged to suppress the public dis- 
cussion of the Communion Question. 

Yours, etc., E. C. D. 



LETTER IV. 

Dear Brethren — There were several reasons why even some of the 
warmest friends of the new pledge felt obliged to discontinue the discussion 
of the Communion Question in their publications. A powerful one was 
found in the very imperfect understanding of the principles of Total 
Abstinence ; it was a new thiag, and required much discussion before it 
could be made clear, even to many of the best friends of the old pledge, 
that it was wrong, or even inexpedient, to drink intoxicating wine in 
moderation. The nature of fermentation was to be developed, the effects 
of fermented wine pressed on the attention and conscience, and the 
adulterations exposed ; and driven as the friends of Total Abstinence 
were by their opposers to the table of the Lord, before they had even 
begun to purify common usages, it is not wonderful that they for a time 
were almost overwhelmed. Another, and by far the most powerful rea- 
son, was the reports so industriously circulated, that some of the leading 
friends of the new pledge were determined not to rest until they had driven 
wine from the table of the Lord. ' I have never known a person connected with 
a Temperance association who wished this ; I have never heard an indi- 
vidual express such a desire ; but while conducting the Temperance press 
at Albany, one correspondent, a clergyman, proposed the substitution 
of water, in consequence of the impossibility, as he supposed, to procure 
the Fruit of the Vine free from alcohol or adulterations ; all they desired 
was to substitute the unfermented for the fermented. Had the case been 
fairly stated, or had not the opponents been themselves under a misap- 
prehension, or been deceived by the common belief that nothing could be 
the " Fruit of the Vine" but that substance which contained the principle 
of intoxication, I verily believe there would have been little or no trouble 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 73 

on this point. What conscience, however tender, what Christian, how- 
ever timid, would have feared to use what alone is mentioned in Scrip- 
ture as the Gospel symbol, the "Fruit of the Vine?" Was it not the 
" Fruit of the Vine*' the friends of this measure were contending for ? Do 
we hesitate to call the juice of the apple, cider, before it is fermented ? As 
a proof, if any is needed, that they wanted wine, and no other substance, 
for the Sacrament, four persons in Albany subscribed $5,000, twelve 
hundred and fifty dollars each, in 1835, to send a competent person to 
Palestine, to examine into the history of ancient wines, their manufacture 
and use — giving him orders to make a^rge shipment of the " Fruit of the 
Vine," free from alcohol. Just as this plan was completed, and the indi- 
vidual ready to embark, we were informed that Messrs. Pomeroy & Bull 
had recently received a large importation of the article ; this, of course, 
rendered another experiment unnecessary. In consequence of the stop- 
ping of the discussion, all demand for the article ceased ; the discussion 
having again revived, that old importation, which had been lying in the 
cellar for five .years, meets with a ready sale, and vast orders have been 
sent for more. 

Another reason for not continuing the public discussion of this question 
will be found in the want of firmness of those that sincerely believed in 
the vast practical importance of the question. If they had stood firm a 
little longer in the position where they had been placed by their oppo- 
nents, and permitted the inquiry to go on in their publications, God alone 
knows what would have been the result. We can not doubt that the 
truth would have earlier been found. But they felt obliged to put forth a 
disclaimer, in which they denied any intention to interfere with wine at 
the Communion, and abandoned the discussion. 

It was doubtless needful for the friends of Total Abstinence to pass 
through these times ; it tried their temper, their character, and their 
faith, and doubtless there was much to be purified and corrected ; it is 
not common to human nature, even while striving for the truth, to bear 
with becoming meekness the lash of opponents, sometimes applied in sly 
satire or cold irony — under the mark of sanctity, or in the filth of drunk- 
enness — in the eloquence of the pulpit and the ribaldry of the bar-room ; 
and I doubt not that the friends of Total Abstinence were too often pro- 
voked to feel and retort railing for railing, and they were tried and mor- 
tified by being forced, for a time, to yield to their opposers. From this 
trial let them learn their weakness ; it is not in their cause — there they are on 
a rock — let them but be faithful to it in all its bearings and to themselves, 
be patient in adversity, and meek and humble in prosperity, and seek 
diligently for that wisdom which is first pure and then peaceable, and 
truth in due time will prevail. 

Yours, etc., E. C. D. 

7 



74 LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 



LETTER V. 

Bear Brethren — Having given some account of the rise of the Com- 
munion Question, and of its suppression in the Temperance publications 
in this State, in 1835, we arrive at its present position ; and I wish briefly 
to ask your attention to some of the advantages which the present period 
presents for its candid discussion, which were not enjoyed at that time. 
As one of its greatest obstacles, on its first introduction, was want of 
knowledge and experience of the principles of Total Abstinence from in- 
toxicating drinks as a beverage— so the understanding and settlement 
of that principle leaves the Communion Question free to be discussed on 
its own merits. We are no longer in the dark as to the practical results 
of Total Abstinence from all that can intoxicate. It is acknowledged by 
all to be the only method of reforming the inebriate ; and in no instance 
have we a record of evil resulting either to the drunkard or temperate 
drinker from abstaining entirely from all intoxicating liquors. Another 
encouragement which the present period presents for pressing this subject 
is the vast army of total abstainers. We have now friends in all pro- 
fessions and stations in society, instead of here and there one, when this 
question was first introduced. The ministers of our holy religion are now 
almost universally advocating Temperance on the principle of entire 
abstinence. There exists a vast many churches where all the members 
are pledged to entire abstinence. In our own State it is ascertained that 
already about eight hundred churches have substituted the unfermented 
Fruit of the Vine for alcoholic liquor at the Lord's table. A great num- 
ber of the old established churches of New England, who are not likely 
to be blown about by every wind of doctrine, are beginning to examine 
and feel on this subject, and some of their associations have entirely abol- 
ished the fermented or intoxicating wine at the Communion. 

Other advantages exist in the theological and medical knowledge that 
has been elicited. There is also much encouragement to believe that the 
religious and political press, now so universally advocating the Total 
Abstinence principle as a beverage, will, in a good degree, lend their pow- 
erful assistance in publishing facts which may be collected in the course 
of this discussion. 

With these and many other sources of encouragement, may not the 
friends of the Communion Question take courage and go on in efforts, at 
least to persuade the professing Christians of their country to faithfully 
and prayerfully examine the subject, and if they find nothing unscrip- 
tural in the use of unfermented wine at the Lord's Supper, to labor, each 
in his own church, in a proper and Christian way, to bring about j^> 
desirable a change ? Yours, etc., E. C. D 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 75 



LETTER VI. 

Dear Brethren — With these and many other important advantages 
which the present period possesses over 1835 for the impartial discussion 
of this question, we can not fail to see that many imposing obstacles yet 
remain in the way of substituting the unfermented "Fruit of the Vine" 
for the intoxicating liquor which has heretofore been used at the table 
of the Lord, and even to free and candid discussion of the benefits to be 
derived from such a change. The most powerful of these consists in the 
fact that the misunderstanding which formerly occasioned so much mis- 
chief still pervades many minds. I mean the idea that the change de- 
sired is to do away with wine altogether, and the ignorance of the 
distinction between fermented and unfermented wine. Even among 
professing Christians, if you ask them ivhat word is used to express the 
substance to be used at the Lord's table, they will answer with the utmost 
confidence, "wine, to be sure ;*' and when they thus answer, they only 
think of the liquid sold under the name of wine, without connecting with 
it the pure " Fruit of the Yine." Now the fact that in the four different 
places where the Supper is mentioned in the New Testament, the word 
wine never once occurs, does not enter their minds, because they have so 
entirely accustomed themselves to the idea that fermented wine is the 
only proper symbol, that they think the introduction of the real substance 
mentioned in Scripture an innovation. 

This remaining ignorance of the true point at issue, or the precise 
change desired, is the source of another obstacle yet to be overcome, viz., 
a sort of indefinite fear ; with some it is the fear of disturbing the church 
with with they are connected ; they feel that it is better even to suffer 
evil rather than to create agitation and perhaps discussion by introducing 
the question, forgetting that God has made the path of duty the path 
of safety, and finally the path of peace. With another person it is the 
fear, to which we have before alluded, of disturbing the pious mind ; but 
let this question be freely and kindly stated and truly understood, and I 
do not believe it will disturb any such. 

Another mortifying, but yet a positive obstacle in the way of this 
discussion, is that custom and appetite which I fear still in too many 
cases influence the church of the living God. The Christian, living as lie 
does in this sinful world, is apt to be overcome in part. It is yet the 
custom with many such to drink alcoholic wine as a beverage, and it is 
to be feared that many yet love it — and many more continue its use as a 
tribute to the long-established usages of what is called good society. If 
such consent to remove it from the table of the Lord, where will they find 
refuge when pressed by their Total Abstinence brethren to drink no more 



76 LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMOTION WINK. 

wine for their brother's safke? What will become of their excuse, that 
what Christ made must be good for common, use ? 

Another obstacle is one which the Temperance reform has met in its 
every effort, viz., opposition to voluntary associations and an idea that it 
is a work belonging exclusively to the Church. Xo one more readily 
grants than myself, that to raise the fallen, to support the weak, to heal 
the broken-hearted, to remote temptation to fin. are surely the office of the 
follower of Him who while on earth went about doing good. 

And whatever may be said of Temperance organisations to cure and 
prevent intemperance, surely nothing can be said against professing 
Christians, whether belonging to Temperance societies or not, wl^ 
to inquire into what is alleged to be an evil in the Church, and who de- 
termine, if they find it so, to labor each in his own sphere to do away with 
that evil. Are they not members of the Church ? and is not the Commu- 
nion Question a legitimate one for their discussion ? Therefore I do not 
address you as members of the Temperance associations, but as members 
of the Church of God. Yours, etc., I C. D. 



LETTER VII, 



Dkau Bretbcrex — After speaking of the present as a iavorable period for 
the discussion of the Communion Question, and noticing some of the ob- 
stacles that still require to be overcome before the change from fermented 
to unfermented wine can be effected, we will just review a few of the rea- 
sons why such a change is desirable. 

The first reason is derived from what we believe to have been the example 
of Christ, and our reason for thus believing is found in the fact that the 
Supper was instituted after Christ and his disciples had been earing the 
Passover, and most probably the symbols were taken from materials al- 
r-.-.ij . _ :"_t :,v:>. X:~:: : = — t"1 "::::~„ z'_:.~. n: tiling .:" \ :'rrziv:.:r.i 
nature was allowed at that feast, or even to be found in the house of any 
Jew for seven days. In Europe, as well as in this country, the Jews of the 
present day use no other than unfermented wine on the Passover night. 
It may be possible that in the corrupt state of the Jews at certain periods, 
or at the time our Saviour was on earth, many of them migh: 
evaded the command, and permitted that in their drink which the law did 
not allow in their houses nor in their vessels. But we are sure that 
Christ, in whom was no guile, and who expressly declared that M He came 
not to destroy, but to fulfill the law/' would not do this. The only in- 
stance on record where wine was ever offered to our Lord he refused it. 
" They gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh, but he received it 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 77 

not." Learned men have settled for us the fact, that in the time of our 
Saviour there were two kinds of wine in use at Palestine — the one unfer- 
mented and pure, the other fermented and often drugged ; thus teaching 
us what might otherwise appear contradictory in the Scriptures, which in 
one place declares, and without any qualification, ''wine is a mocker ;" 
and in another speaks of it as a "blessing " to cheer the heart of God a ad 
man.'' The one like milk, generally nutritious and good, the other steal- 
ing away the senses, and is indeed, as the Word of God declares, "a 
mocker." Now it seems to me that the innocent, unmixed, unfermented 
juice of the grape comes much nearer the Gospel symbol, which is "the 
Fruit of the Vine, " than the fermented and drugged liquor now in general 
use, and which in ninety-nine cases in the hundred is the runnings from 
the still, either in whole or in part, and without any certainty of contain- 
ing a single drop of the "Fruit of the Vine." 

Let us suppose, for argument sake, that milk had been used originally 
as the symbol, instead of the Fruit of the Vine, and it should be found 
that cows grazing in one particular field produced a milk which was poi- 
sonous, but in an adjoining field free from every injurious quality, who 
can doubt which should be used ? Now it is a well-known fact that in In- 
diana the milk sickness is the occasion of the loss of a vast many lives yearly. 
Dr. Leland has lately taken a tour through the region where it prevails, 
for the purpose of observing the symptoms of the disease and investi- 
gating the causes. He attributes it to arsenic, which he finds scattered in 
great abundance, in the form of arsenical iron pyrites, throughout every 
section where the milk sickness prevails. Wnile it would be entirely 
innocent to use the milk when free from the poison arsenic, who can 
doubt that it would be a sin to use it after ascertaining its poisonous quali- 
ties ? Let us divest our minds of all preconceived opinions and all preju- 
dice, my dear brethren, and see if we cam find any substantial argument 
that will not apply as powerfully against the use of fermented, intoxi- 
cating wine, when the Fruit of the Vine can be had free from that 
principle, as against the milk found to be incorporated with the deadly 
poison arsenic. 

I know the example of the Corinthian Church is introduced as opposed 
to our views. As to that point I find very little agreement, even among 
the learned, and I leave that inquiry only with them. 

Many refer to the marriage of Cana as authority in the moderate use 
of intoxicating wine. The governor of the feast makes allusion to wine, 
and says, "but thou hast kept the good wine till now." There is no 
question that there are various qualities of unfermented wine, some much 
better than others, and that the term good and bad was applied in an- 
cient times as well to the product of the vine in an unfermented sta,te as 
in the fermented state. I have several specimens of wine, all differing, 



78 LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 

all unfermented, but one decidedly superior to the others, so that while 
this specimen has always been commended as very good, the others have 
been spoken of with qualified- praise. A worthy and conscientious Chris- 
tian said to me not long since, " You almost persuade me to adopt your 
extreme views ; but how can you get along with the wine called " good" 
at the marriage ? was that not intoxicating V ' Being now a total abstainer 
of some eight or ten years' standing. I stated that to my mind it was very 
easy, much easier than when I was in the daily use of intoxicating wine, 
and when I judged of its quality by its strength. Then perhaps I should 
have called, and indeed did call my old doubly fortified Madeira which I 
drank, good, but I have since found that my opinion was then formed on a 
vitiated taste ; but now my taste having become as that of a child with 
regard to such drinks, I am a better judge of what is good or bad than I 
was then. Xow I should pronounce the delicious, nutritious, unfer- 
rnented "fruit of the vine" the "good," and the other, that wine ••which 
is a mocker," bad. Let any one place before a child, whose appetite was 
unimpaired, of a year old, the two kinds, and while it would receive the 
Fruit of the Vine as it is supposed Pharaoh drank it, with pleasure, and 
if it could speak would pronounce it good, it would struggle and resist 
the other, no matter how highly estimated, as against a dose of nauseous 
medicine. The taste for alcohol is artificial, but once acquired, no one 
can tell to what it will lead. It is hard to convince an old alcoholic wine- 
drinker that anything in the form of the juice of the grape can be " good" 
unless it will produce intoxication in a greater or less degree. All such 
for a time will ridicule the pure unfermented Fruit of the Vine when they 
taste it, for the reason that the first thing they notice is the absence of the 
alcohol, for which alone the fermented wine is drank, and many will go 
on drinking and increasing their dose of ''-good'' wine, when, had they 
commenced their first potation with a quantity equal to the last, it would 
have landed them in the gutter. 

Another reason why the change should take place is. that the Church 
of Christ should no longer countenance the use or traffic in intoxicating 
drink. At present, the dealer and the drinker have a formidable answer 
to all who censure their trade. May we not drink what Christians take 
at the table of the Lord ? May we not sell what the Church buys to cele- 
brate the death of Christ? Now. if the Bible had said, or Christ had said, 
" As oft as ye drink this fermented or intoxicating cup, do it in remem- 
brance of me," our mouths would be stopped, even should reformed, 
converted drunkards hasten from the Communion table to the grog-shop. 
But, as the ' ; Fruit of the Vine" is what we are directed to use, may we 
not choose to use it in its most innocent form, and thus take a formidable 
excuse away from those who drink and sell what experience has found to 
be evil, and evil continually ? 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 79 

Another reason for this change is, that many consciences are greatly- 
troubled, and their numbers are rapidly increasing by the present usage. 
In our country it is supposed that there are about two millions who adopt 
the principle of Total Abstinence from all that can intoxicate ; a vast 
number of these are members of Christian churches, and it is not a large 
calculation to suppose that two hundred thousand are dissatisfied with 
alcoholic wine as the symbol of salvation. It may be said they are 
troubled without cause ; and they may be called weak brethren. Grant 
this, and the Bible rule is, that the strong should give way for the sake 
of the weak. " It is good neither to eat flesh nor drink wine, nor any- 
thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." 
Since it is the article mentioned by Christ we plead for, " the Fruit of the 
Vine," do not cast us all out from the Church because our consciences 
refuse to take it in a form which may satisfy others. We do not wish for 
innovation, but to return to what we believe to be the original symbol. 
Yours, etc, E. C. D. 



LETTER VIII. 



Dear Brethren — God in his wonderful providence has raised up a pow- 
erful argument, which, until within a few years, hardly occupied the 
mind of the Christian even in a remote degree — an argument to which it 
appears to me every follower of the Lamb must now give heed. It comes 
to us as a voice from the Almighty, and will any one of us answer to this 
voice, " Am I my brother's keeper?" This comparatively new argument 
is found in the reformation of thousands and tens of thousands of drunk- 
ards in this and other lands. The devout mind, accustomed to watch the 
current of events, can not but say, Truly this is the finger of God. What- 
ever may be said of the Temperance enterprise, as having its foundation in 
human wisdom, it will not be denied that this wonderful revelation has 
on it the stamp of divinity. It appears to me the words applied to the rise 
and progress of Christianity are not less applicable to this : " But God hath 
chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise ; and God 
hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which 
are mighty ; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, 
hath God chosen, and things which are not, to bring to nought things 
that are." 

The argument here is — the reformed converted drunkard is in imminent 
danger of having his disease of intemperance forced back upon him by the 
alcoholic cup presented to him through the hands of God's ministers. 
And let it be borne in mind, as one of the remarkable features in the 



80 LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 

great work now in rapid progress, that the reclaimed inebriate never 
thinks himself safe till he finds refuge in the Church of God. Let all who 
have heard them speak, either privately or publicly, bear me witness to 
this. As a general rule, religious speech becomes their natural language. 
The cause of this appears plain to me. I regard the Temperance enter- 
prise in all its bearings eminently the work of God ; hence revivals of 
religion have almost invariably followed in the train of revivals in Tem- 
perance. Who can doubt, therefore, that vast numbers of the reformed 
will become Christians, and every church in our widely-extended country 
be blessed with a sprinkling from this class. It is estimated that we have 
14,000 churches in the United States, and 500,000 drunkards ; this gives 
about 35 drunkards to each church. Now, can there be a question that 
should each of those churches put forth proper effort, more or less of these 
lost ones might, with God's assistance, be brought within the fold ? And 
if brought there, should their safety be endangered by presenting to them, 
within the holy sanctuary, the very substance which had all but destroyed 
them in the grog-shop ? 

It is a fact, founded on undoubted experience, that the sight of liquor, 
known to contain alcohol, has been followed by the most disastrous con- 
sequences to those who have been considered long reformed. Sight, in 
this case, acts with great power, producing a desire almost irresistible. 
Solomon, I suppose, grounds his warning against intoxicating wine upon 
this very principle : ' ' Look not thou upon the wine when it giveth its 
color in the cup." I knew a man who had been a drunkard of long 
standing, but through the influence of kind neighbors and friends, had 
broken away from his fetters, and had abstained for a year or more ; he 
had even been made an officer of a Temperance society on the old pledge ; 
but one day having occasion to enter a grocery on some errand for his 
family, he found the keeper of it at the moment tapping a newly received 
barrel of strong beer ; the sight of the foaming liquor, as it flowed out, 
revived his long dormant desires, which he found uncontrollable ; like a 
bird charmed by the eye of the snake, he fell powerless in the embrace 
of the destroyer ; one glass followed another, until he became a raging 
maniac, and in that state followed me with a club, from which I only es- 
caped by a miracle ; but my excellent friend Chancellor Walworth, on 
whom he next fixed his gaze, did not escape so well, and on whom he 
inflicted a blow. The next day the miserable man called upon me and 
made an apology. But his self-respect was gone ; confidence in himself 
was lost ; he resorted again to the waters of death ; in a week he had 
another fit of the delirium, and in another he filled a drunkard's grave. 

There is great danger from the smell, still more than from the sight The fumes 
passing through the olfactory nerves, revive in the brain all the old 
feeling, and his desires come upon him like a strong man armed. The 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 81 

enemy of the reformed man, aware of this, has been known to sprinkle 
the deceitful liquor in his way, and then watch him with the eye of a 
fiend, hoping again to have him within his toils, and rob him of his daily 
earnings, by which his family should have been fed. Will the Church of 
God continue to offer the same substance to the smell of the reformed con- 
verted man by placing it on the Lord's table ? 

Still more certain is the danger arising from the taste of the alcoholic cup. 
Perhaps this can not be better illustrated than by comparing the body of 
the reformed to a cask of gunpowder that is entirely safe so long as fire is 
kept from it — but the smallest spark will explode the whole as fully as 
if a shower of sparks had fallen upon it. 

The duty of Christians to sustain their weak brethren need not be 
nrged ; all admit it. In the case of the reformed brother, he is " willing* 
but his flesh is weak;" and when he comes into our company we are 
bound to hold him up ; we are bound also to remove from his sight, smell, 
or taste that, substance which may be his ruin, not only in time, but in 
eternity. 

Let each one of us, my dear brethren, bring the case home to him- 
self ; suppose each one of you had a near and dear relative who had 
become reformed and converted to the religion of our blessed Lord and 
Master, would you not tremble for him, with the light now shining upon 
the question, while the alcoholic cup was presented to him at the table 
of the Lord, would you not fear the influence the sight, the smell, the 
taste might have upon him ? would you not feel safer if the cup contained 
the fruit of the vine free from the principle of intoxication ? 

In former years the reformation of the drunkard was a rare occurrence, 
consequently there were few from them as a class to make a profession 
of religion, and it was still more rare that an attempt at reformation 
was successful ; what watching and warning was needed to sustain them 
— one of the secrets of the failure has at last been discovered. The Church 
herself in ignorance has helped to send them back. The reformed convert, on the 
communion morning, prayed, ''Lead me not into temptation,'' and on 
that very day the "strongest temptation meets him in the smell, the sight, 
and the taste of the alcoholic cup, blessed and handed to him to drink to 
commemorate the dying love of his Saviour ! ! 

It may be said by some, if these men be Christians, they will not fall 
before so slight a temptation. If I understand this objection, it is the 
same that might be urged against all exhortation. Paul, I think, viewed 
the question in a different light : ' ' Through thy knowledge shall the 
weak brother perish for whom Christ died?" This objection assumes 
another and more general form. When it is said a man who has not 
resolution to stand such a temptation is not to be relied upon, let us ask 
what kind of resolution the reformed inebriate is expected to have? 



82 LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 

Moral of course ; but is this sufficient to meet the cruel and insatiate 
antagonist he has to contend against ? His enemy is a physical evil, 
which has produced a moral debility, so that on the supposition that his 
moral resolution is as firm as any man's who sits down at that table with 
him, his physical nature is not equal to the same encounter, and until 
this defect in his bodily frame is removed, neither his spiritual 01 moral 
nature have strength to resist. His case is exactly like those who are 
predisposed to certain diseases. Moral resolution is not sufficient to pre- 
vent them. It may avail before going within the region of infection, but 
once there, he must yield to the influence. The drunkard's disease slum- 
bers within him ; the moment he comes within the influence of the cause 
which originated it his longings begin, and in too many cases his moral 
resolution fails. Drunkenness is therefore not like some other moral evils, 
which have the seed in the thoughts ; it exists immediately in the flesh, and 
through its influence holds the mind in subjection ; therefore to dis- 
cipline the sensual nature by entire abstinence from all that would in the 
least degree provoke the return of the disease, is not only consistent with 
true religion, but sound philosophy. 

Some think that this reformation is but temporary — that it is a new 
thing, and that any violent change to meet their case is not desirable or 
important. We acknowledge that until within a year or two the reforma- 
tion of drunkards has been rare ; but recent events have astonished us 
all, and set all ordinary rules at defiance. Who could have predicted 
two years ago what has taken place since that time in this marvelous 
work ? Instead of waiting to see if the good will pass away, and leave 
no trace of it behind, would it not be wiser to do all in our power to 
■establish it, and "to work while it is day, for the night cometh when no 
man can work?" 

My attention was forcibly called to this important subject while I had 
charge of the Temperance press at Albany on the old ardent spirit pledge. 
A single year brought in reports of 5,000 drunkards reformed on that 
pledge in the State of New York alone ; the next year full half of them 
were reported from the same sources as having gone "back to their old 
habits of intemperance without breaking their pledge, on fermented 
drinks; so' that on that pledge we ceased to report the reformation "of 
drunkards. Many had joined churches, and went immediately from the 
alcoholic cup, received from the hands of the minister, to the grog-shop, 
and abandoned themselves to drunkenness, and became lost to their fami- 
lies, to themselves, and I fear to Heaven. 

Though the reformation on the wide scale we now see it be new, the 
change for which we plead, and for the same reason, has been urged for a 
long time ; but then it was to meet a single case here and there scattered 
over the country, but now their numbers can be counted by thousands. 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 83 

The Church did not see any necessity for preparation to receive accession 
to her ranks from, this class ; hut they have come, and she is not ready to receive 
them. They have come without her aid, and certainly with hut slight in 
vitation, if any. They have come hy thousands, and may come hy tens 
of thousands. They have left the temples of Satan, the grog-shops — have 
fled from alcohol as from the face of the serpent ; and many of them are 
running to the Church of the living God for refuge ; and some of them 
are so much in earnest that they are clinging to the horns of the altar ; 
but let not the infidel hear it — they meet even there, on the sacred altar of 
God. their terrible foe. 

Instead of thousands, should there be only hundreds of the reformed 
seeking the sanctuary, the smallness of their numbers does not impair the 
argument. The benevolent man will rejoice over even one sinner that 
repenteth, and should watch over that one as the Almighty Father does 
over every individual penitent. What Christian would willingly put a 
stumbling-block in the way of his brother ? and surely the Church of God 
should be filled with the same love in this case. 

In examining both sides of this question, so pregnant with conse- 
quences to the reformed converted drunkard, who can question what 
stand the Church should take ? Now that reformed drunkards are 
knocking at our church doors for admission, shall they be refused, unless 
they partake within its sacred precincts the very substance that all their 
experience tells them will send them again back to drunkenness ? No, I 
can not believe it. The Church will without delay inquire into this ques- 
tion, and will, I have no doubt, offer not only to communicants gen- 
erally, but to the converted drunkard, the Fruit of the Vine, in which 
there is nothing to mock. 

Some suppose the agitation of this question will react disastrously 
upon the general cause of Temperance ; to my mind the reverse will be 
the result . Now the religious mind of the country is beginning to under- 
stand the question, and can not again be deceived as to the real point at 
issue. This great and last principle, yet to be settled in the Temperance 
reform, belongs legitimately to the Church, not to Temperance societies, 
to settle; and should they unitedly resolve to use the "Fruit of the 
Vine," free from alcohol, they will set the key-stone in the arch of Temper- 
ance, and by this simple act do more for this great cause of benevolence 
than all other efforts } r et made. Let her expand her doors, and proclaim to 
the world that the drink of the drunkard is no longer tolerated within 
her walls ; and the reformation will, in my judgment, then rush on to 
final triumph with a rapidity that will astonish the world. 

Your affectionate brother, E. C. D. 



84 LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 



LETTER IX. 

Dear Brethren — As the reformed and converted drunkard, if he will 
speak, can bring the most convincing testimony, so the physician is 
authority to which we can appeal with the utmost confidence to help 
us to a just conclusion in the matter at issue. The testimony of this 
class of men goes the whole length of our views ; they all to a man testify 
that the reformed drunkard must, to be safe, declare against all that can 
intoxicate, iri every form and in every place. What shall then be done ? 
Shall we advise the reformed converted drunkard not to unite in our 
communions ? or shall we at once and without delay meet the exigencies 
of his case ? The testimony of physicians was sought and obtained gen- 
erally, without, as they probably supposed, any direct reference to this 
important question, but which, nevertheless, tells powerfully in favor of 
the change. I conclude, under no circumstance would any sensible man 
say that a reformed drunkard could safely taste that in a church which 
he could not safely elsewhere taste ? 

The influence the physician has had in every stage of the Temperance 
enterprise has been vast ; he has in all cases spoken out decidedly. W^hen 
this question was first agitated in 1835, I consulted some of the most 
learned physicians in the country, and their invariable reply to my in- 
quiry was, " The reformed drunkard is only safe while he abstains entirely 
from all intoxicating drinks, and he must abstain as well at the Commu- 
nion table as at any other table. M 

No one can doubt but that the physician is qualified to give evidence in 
. this matter. He knows what that state of the system is, physically and 
mentally, which renders the reformed man liable to become an easy 
victim to the destructive agent which has once had the ascendancy over 
him. He knows the state of not only the temperate drinker, but the 
drunkard's stomach, for he has dissected them in all stages. He knows 
the state and condition of the drunkard's brain and of the whole nervous 
system, for he has deeply studied this also, and who is able so well to tell 
us the effect that alcohol will have when it comes under any form, or in 
any place, in contact with either stomach or brain ? The late President 
and Professor of Theory and Practice in the Vermont Academy of Medi- 
cine, in closing his highly interesting letter, states : 

" ALCOHOL, THEN, IN ALL ITS FORMS, SHOULD BE RE- 
GARDED BY THAT CLASS OF MEN WHO HAVE ESCAPED FROM 
ITS INFLUENCE IN THE SAME LIGHT AS THE MOST VIRULENT 
POISON. EVERY VESSEL CONTAINING IT SHOULD, IN THEIR 
EYE, BE STAMPED WITH THE ' DEATH'S HEAD AND CROSS 
BONE LABEL;' AND MUST BE AS SEDULOUSLY AVOIDED, IF 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 85 

THEY WOULD REMAIN ENTIRELY SAFE, AS THAT DEADLY 
POISON, A FEW DROPS OF WHICH WOULD PROVE CERTAINLY 
FATAL." 

When the minister of Christ and professing Christians can come to the 
same conclusion with the physician, and in imagination see labeled on 
the alcoholic Communion cup "death's head and cross bones," it can not he 
long before the Fruit of the Vine, free from the poor drunkard's poison, 
will be universally demanded for the Communion. 

Yours, etc., E. C. D. 



LETTER X. 



Bear Brethren — The testimony of learned and influential clergymen 
and laymen, for and against the change now proposed, should be fairly 
considered, and when they are willing to send their opinions out to the 
world, with the sanction of their names, it is a sufficient proof of the 
sincerity of their motives. Perhaps there have been no writers in this 
country who have written more learnedly or more powerfully heretofore 
against the change now aimed at than the Rev. Dr. Sprague of Albany 
and the Rev. Prof. McLean of Princeton, and I trust neither of those gen- 
tlemen will deem it uncourteous or unkind if I endeavor to draw from 
their published works admissions which will seem to strengthen my posi- 
tion. It appears to me that the admission of Dr. Sprague would allow 
of the change without the least departure from Bible sanction. In one 
of his sermons published at the period when this question was before up 
for discussion, he remarks with his usual eloquence : "I say, brethren, 
you have no occasion for Hebrew learning, or Arabic learning, or any 
other learning than the plain English, to settle the question ; the Master 
himself has settled it for the obscurest peasant as for the most eminent 
biblical critic, and no man, no body of men, has a right to call in question 
the Master's decision. I have heard the practice of the Church in the 
second century appealed to in justification of this usage. Bat if the 
authority of the second century is good, surely that of the first is better ; 
and why not go a little further back and take advantage of that. And 
if the testimony of uninspired men is good, the testimony of those who 
are inspired is better ; why not, then, be satisfied by simply opening the 
Word of God and ascertaining what is there written on this subject? 
Ah ! it is because God says not a word about any other element to be 
used as a drink in this ordinance but the Fruit of the Vine.' 7 (See ser- 
mon on the Danger of being Over-wise.) Here is the true conclusion 
8 



86 LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 

of the whole matter. The Fruit of the Vine is the proper and only sub- 
stance ; the Doctor's views and mine are in perfect agreement here. I 
have never for a moment questioned, nor have I ever heard any one else 
question, the duty of using the Fruit of the Vine at the Communion. 
Again ; the Doctor in his letter to the Rev. Professor Stewart states : "It 
is readily admitted that there is nothing in the language which our 
Saviour used in the original institution of the Lord's Supper from which 
it can be determined whether it was fermented wine or the unfermented 
juice of the vine which was used on that occasion, as the Fruit of the 
Vine may legitimately mean either." Now, it does begin to be ques- 
tioned whether alcohol is the Fruit of the Vine any more than miasma, 
which is the result of decomposed vegetable matter, is the fruit of the 
earth ; yet not to pursue this, to my mind a most important thought 
of my valued friend and fellow-laborer in this great work, the Eev. 
Doctor Edwards, I think the most unreasonable must have the candor to 
allow, that even admitting, for argument sake, that the Fruit of the Vine 
may legitimately mean either fermented or unfermented wine, there can be 
no wrong, no departure from the Master's command, if the unfermented is used.. 

The Rev. Professor McLean has often been before the public on the 
general subject connected with the use of intoxicating drinks, and to do 
him justice, no man has been a more constant and thorough advocate in 
sustaining the usages of society in the moderate use of intoxicating 
drinks as derived from Scriptures. He has recently published a large 
pamphlet, which is only, as we are informed, the precursor of others that 
will appear in due time. To understand the object of the essay, it may 
be well to state to those who have not perused it, that the author labors 
throughout to prove that the word oivo£ in Greek, and vinum in Latin, 
were synonymous with that of wine in English. 

In his review of the English works, Bacchus and Anti-Bacchus, he 
Bays, page 36, "that in treating of wines, these writers have mentioned 
modes of preserving the juice of the grape other than by fermentation ; 
this we without the least hesitation admit, and that this unfermented 
juice of the grape, whether inspissated or not, was sometimes used as a 
drink, we do not question ; but we do maintain that the common or almost 
universal acceptation of vinum — the Latin term for wine — is the fermented 
juice of the grape ; and that when the term is applied to any other prep- 
aration of the grape juice, it is connected with some word qualifying the 
import of the word vinum." 

" The same remark may be made of the Greek word o/vo£, corresponding 
to the Latin vinum and English wine. ' ' 

Here is acknowledged in substance all that we contend for, that the 
juice of the grape was used at the time of our Saviour in its fermented 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 87 

and unfermented state ; and the only difference between Professor McLean 
aad the authors he reviews, is as to proportions which was the most gen- 
erally used. To my mind this is a very small matter ; it is admitted that 
both were used, and it appears to me the argument would have been 
more profitable, if to show which was the safest to use. I conclude that 
by a little closer investigation, not only Professor McLean, but the au- 
thors which he reviews may be found correct when applied to different ages 
of the world. What was common in one age might be the reverse in the 
next. Sixteen years since, the custom of using ardent spirit was almost 
universal ; now, the habit, except with the degraded, has almost disap- 
peared. So it will be with fermented drinks when their character is as 
fully developed. It will be seen that the existence and use of unfer- 
mented wine remain established. To be sure, the Professor says, "that 
when the term is applied to any other preparation of grape-juice it is con- 
nected with some word qualifying the import of vinum." Very likely, 
just as we speak of cider in its different preparations, we use the qualify- 
ing word hard, siceet, boiled. He however admits that sometimes the word 
vinum, without any addition or qualification, was employed to designate 
the unfermented juice of the grape. How important these admissions 
when applied to the question before us ! The Professor admits, also, that 
the same remark may be made of the Greek word ojvoc. Professor 
McLean calls upon the Rev. Eli Smith to sustain him, and Mr. Smith has 
referred to a letter of mine on the subject. 

Mr. Smith says, "I am happy to find that any apparent discrepancy 
between the testimony here given and that of Mr. Delavan, in his letter 
to the editor of the New York Observer of August 24, as far as facts are con- 
cerned, is chiefly, if not entirety verbal. He certifies that the unfermented 
juice of the grape can be preserved from fermentation by boiling. My 
testimony goes farther, and proves that it can be, but is in fact thus pre- 
served to a great extent. The difference is, he calls the sirup wine ; I have 
not found it bearing the name nor used in the place of wine. Of his 
opinion that it was anciently regarded and used as wine, and is the wine 
approved in the Bible, but has gone into disuse in consequence of in- 
creased taste for alcoholic drinks, a person who has never been in Palestine 
is perhaps as capable of judging as myself." Observe here, Mr. Smith 
agrees with me in the facts that the fruit of the vine can be preserved in 
an unfermented state — second, that it is preserved to a great extent at the 
present time in the East ; and third, he does not profess to judge what 
was the custom of the East in the days of our Saviour. 

Professor McLean makes great use of the "verbal distinction," and 
when applied to the signification of a word he considers it everything. 
His great anxiety is to prove that the unfermented fruit of the vine can 



bO LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 

not be called wine. I think he has admitted that the Latin and Greek 
words signifying wine settles that question. « 

With regard to the great question now before us, we think we can turn 
this verbal criticism to good account, for whatever may befall the ques- 
tion of Total Abstinence from all that can intoxicate as a beverage, in con- 
sequence of a signification of a word, the Communion Question is safe, as the 
word wine does not once occur with regard to the ordinance. 

Upon the whole, Prof. McLean has certainly labored hard, and has 
been most ingenious in his arguments to sustain his views on this 
subject. Still, he has had to admit that there were two kinds of wine in 
use in ancient times — one intoxicating, the other free from that destruc- 
tive principle. Is it not incumbent on him, therefore, to prove that our 
Lord and Saviour made and drank that which has occasioned all the in- 
temperance in the world, and left the innocent to others ? 

Toward Prof. McLean I have no feeling but that of affection. He has 
sometimes been a severe critic, and in his last publication classes me with 
the heretic, but I love him as a Christian brother, and a great and good 
man. In several interviews I have had with him, and by correspond- 
ence, he has ever been affectionate and kind, and he has always held up 
his testimony against the attempt that for a time succeeded too well to 
suppress the discussion. He thought all subjects in which good men 
might honestly differ should be fully investigated. 

Yours, etc., E. C. D. 



LETTER XI. 



Dear Brethren — While I am opposed to fermented wine of the purest 
quality because it contains alcohol, and because I look upon it as a poison 
entirely unfit to be received into the system, except as other poisons are 
sometimes administered as a medicine, I propose to show to those who 
still consider*such wine a blessing as a beverage, or a proper substance for 
the Lord's table, that in this country it is next to impossible to obtain it, 
while there is not the least difficulty in procuring the Fruit of the Vine 
free from fermentation or adulteration of any kind. 

During the many years my attention has been called to this subject, a 
great variety of facts has come to my knowledge from authentic sources, 
only a few of which space will allow me to state, while I could fill a vol- 
ume with them. I have been often astonished at the indifference evinced 
by many individuals to the subject of adulterations in their daily drink 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 89 

It has appeared to me that they did not wish to be enlightened, fearing 
Jhat they would be constrained to abandon that which habit had, in a 
measure, rendered necessary. I have often thought that should the 
bakers be detected in adulterating bread to one tenth the extent that wine 
fabricators adulterate wine, Lynch law world be at once administered to 
them. 

The adulterations are of three kinds ; fiat which is made on. the spot 
in wine regions, and when fermented wine, is both strengthened by the 
addition of ardent spirit and adulterated by foreign admixtures. This 
kind of adulteration has a close connection with the Communion Ques- 
tion, for in fact the wine considered the purest, and purchased as the 
purest, is indebted to ardent spirit, run from the distillery, for its princi- 
pal strength. As evidence of this, I will state a fact received from the 
lips of a large dealer and importer of wine. His conscience was aroused 
on the subject of Communion wine ; knowing the general imposition prac- 
ticed upon the churches, he resolved to import the pure fermented wine, 
free from any admixture whatever. He accordingly wrote to his agent 
at Madeira, giving strict orders that not a drop of ardent spirit should be 
added. The wine came, but to all appearances undiminished in strength. 
Surprised at this, he determined to ascertain the cause, and wrote to his 
agent for a positive answer to the question, "Was my order strictly 
complied with ?" The reply was, " We complied with the letter but not 
with the spirit of your order. We put no brandy into the wine, but we 
put the wine into the brandy ; and the reason was, had we not have 
made this addition, it would have spoiled before reaching you." Every 
gallon of imported alcohol wine, of the more expensive kinds, probably 
contains at least a quart of distilled spirit ; as brandy is cheapest, it is 
added to as great an extent as the public taste will bear. Is such wine 
proper for the Lord's table ? This is the purest state that alcoholic wine 
generally reaches this country. 

There is another kind of adulteration far more extensive than the last. 
It is the pure fermented wine, rendered more intoxicating by poisonous 
drugs, because the drugs used are cheaper than alcohol. Even when wine 
is only worth a penny a bottle, such is the cupidity of the dealer, that he 
will practice this imposition to increase his gains. 

Is this kind of wine proper for the Lord's table ? 

But by far the most extensive and alarming adulterations are the 
liquors sold as wine in which there is not a drop of the fruit of the vine. This 
trade is one of the secrets which the Day of Judgment can alone unfold. 
Some few of them have, however, come to light. The National Conven- 
tion, recently held at Saratoga, offered $500 for the best essay on the 
adulterations of intoxicating drinks. Had it done nothing else but this, 
it would have been worthy of their assembling themselves together. 



90 LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE*. 

When this department of wickedness is thoroughly examined and laid 
before the public, the beer exposures will be entirely thrown in the 
shade. An aged divine related to me what actually took place under his 
own knowledge. He was called to the death-bed of a manufacturer and 
dealer in liquor called wine. In the course of his conversation with the 
dying man he put the question. "Are the statements made in the Tem- 
perance papers respecting the adulteration of wine true?" "Yes," said 
he, " they are all true, and I am now suffering the deepest pangs of re- 
morse for what I have done in this matter." In connection with this 
fact, the druggist of a town admitted publicly, that while this trade was 
in its greatest state of prosperity, the sale of sugar of lead was in the greatest 
demand. I wonder what this dying man would have said if he had been 
asked, " Is the wine you have been making and selling a proper substance 
to commemorate the dying love of that Saviour before whom you are 
shortly to appear ?" 

I have myself received many confessions from wine fabricators and 
others, all going to show that the greatest iniquities are practiced, and 
that the health and life of the community have been held in small 
consideration. A gentleman of New York, of high standing, informed 
me not long since that he purchased a bottle of champagne, said to be 
pure as imported, and had it analyzed, and found it to contain one 
quarter of an ounce of sugar of lead ; and this is the wine that the higher 
classes are now drinking in great quantities, especially the young. 

A grocer, now no longer engaged in making or selling these poisons, 
confessed to me that he had often purchased of the country merchant 
whisky one day, and the next sold him his whisky back again in part 
under the name of wine, at a profit from two to four hundred per cent. 
Another large dealer that I knew full well, having purchased a receipt 
for turning ardent spirit into wine, and New England rum into brandy 
and gin, went to work on an extensive scale, and prepared a large quan- 
tity of his adulterations. He one day exhibited his receipt to his physi- 
cian, and told him how rapidly he was making his fortune. His physician 
informed him that the ingredients he was using were rank poisons, and 
to sell what he had made would be murder. All at once his golden 
visions departed ; still he could not be reconciled to the loss of his present 
stock ; he concluded, therefore, to give a gallon of his liquor to a poor 
miserable drunkard of his acquaintance, and if it did not kill him, he would 
sell it. The drunkard being a tough subject, was not killed immediately, 
so he sold his stock of poisonous liquors, and continued to make and vend 
them for years. He grew rich, and died rich, AND HAS GONE TO 
JUDGMENT. 

I frequently meet with persons of intelligence who are quite incredu- 
lous as to the truth of these statements. While traveling recently. I toll 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 91 

in with a gentleman of great influence, whose aid I was anxious to secure 
to the Temperance cause. He was in favor of temperance, but thought 
moderate drinking temperance. Failing in my arguments to convince 
him. as I thought of his wrong position. I resorted to the one of adul- 
terations, and stated to him that in order to be sure that he was drinking 
pure wine, and not a mixture of poisons, he would require a chemist with 
his laboratory constantly in attendance. After giving him a great va- 
riety of facts, to which he listened attentively, he replied, " I can not 
credit what you say ; you must be deceived ; such things could not exist 
without exposure so long ; if true, or even half true, these wine forgers 
deserve the State Prison ten times more than he who writes another man's 
name on the back of his note. Here is Mr. B. sitting beside us ; he has 
been listening to our conversation ; he is an extensive importer of wine ; 
let us appeal to him : is what Mr. Delavan relates true?" " Yes,' 7 re- 
plied our fellow-passenger, i; all that he says is true ;" and then he went 
to describe the iniquitous practices of the wine fabricators. 

A gentleman of undoubted veracity gave me the following fact in a 
letter from the city of Troy : 

' ' A spirit dealer in this city acknowledged to me that a gentleman 
called on him who loves good nine, and will drink no other. He showed 
him some for which he charged him twelve shillings per gallon ; it cost 
him two shillings and sixpence a gallon. If he had charged it at a low price 
the purchaser would not have supposed it good ; he was therefore con- 
strained to ask an extravagant price, or lose the sale. A few days since 
the same dealer informed me that that he had made fifteen dollars on the 
sale of ten gallons of wine ; that the tavern-keeper who purchased it in- 
tended to bottle it, and would make fifteen dollars more !" 

The practices of wine fabricators several years since underwent a 
thorough examination in the British Parliament ; a great mass of im- 
portant testimony was adduced, and great numbers were convicted. One 
man was found to have more than 2,000 pounds of divers drugs and com- 
pounds intended to be used in the business ; this man was convicted and 
punished. 

There were individuals engaged in this nefarious traffic who confined 
their operations simply to the manufacture of the ingredients, omitting 
the alcohol. This substance made up with the necessary drugs to produce 
the flavor required, is furnished at a very small cost to the dealers, who 
themselves added the necessary quantity of whisky. A large shipment 
of this horrible stuff was made to Boston during the winter, left on the 
quay one cold night, and in the morning was found frozen solid, as the 
fire-water had not yet been added — had it been, it would have been sold 
as good wine, and some of it probably found its way to the table of the 
Lord, and there drank as representing the blood of Christ ! Do I do wrong, 



92 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 



dear Brethren, in stating these things, and in urging yon to purify the 
table of the Lord from such abominations ? 

Other evidence could be adduced to strengthen what I have said, but it 
is unnecessary. The Temperance press has been teeming with such facts 
for the last fi ve or six years, and yet up to this day, let it be remembered, there 
has not appeared a man to contradict them. In the face of open day have these 
practices been exposed, and in broad day are these •abominations yet prac- 
ticed, yet how few, especially in our cities, except the Temperance men, 
really give credit to these facts, but keep on drinking their liquors daily, 
and our churches using them at the Communion with hardly a thought 
that they, by purchasing and using, are in point of fact not only par- 
takers, but co-partners in sustaining this traffic of death. 

Let me with all kindness and earnestness inquire of those of my breth- 
ren who oppose the introduction of the Fruit of the Vine free from all 
that can intoxicate or pollute, for what is it you contend ? Is it for the 
alcohol, the drugs, or the coloring matter ? 

Setting aside all higher considerations, it appears to me for the pur- 
pose of discountenancing such a trade we would be justified even in 
straining a point ; but this is not required. The real unobjectionable 
and pure symbol is at hand, and will you refuse it and continue to use 
such compounds as I have described ? May not the souls of many now be 
crying from under the altar, "How long, Lord, holy and true, dost 
thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth f" 
Yours, etc., E. C. D. 



LETTER XII. 



Dear Brethren — No class of men possesses more influence over the 
public mind than ministers of religion. No class has done more to pro- 
mote the cause of Temperance, and no class has derived greater benefits 
from it. It is hardly necessary here to refer to the custom of society and 
of the clergy fifteen years since, and state what their habits were then, 
and how many of them, especially in our cities, fell before the destroyer. 
But now all this has passed away, and I doubt whether there is a clergy- 
man who has commenced his labors since the reform that is even in 
danger of becoming intemperate. That, with very few exceptions, the 
whole body of the clergy in the State of New York and in all the New En- 
gland States now practically adopt the principles of Total Abstinence, tells 
powerfully in favor of that principle and on the agency they must have 
had in producing the results which are now rejoicing the hearts of the be- 
nevolent everywhere. 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 93 

The question now before us, and as I think the most important in the 
Temperance reform, can be greatly retarded or almost immediately set- 
tled, as they incline. What little I may say to my brethren of this class 
shall be said with great deference, disclaiming any intention but to ex- 
press my views in simplicity, without entertaining the least desire to 
dictate to them on this important question. 

It does appear to me that the time has now fully arrived when every 
minister of Christ should devote his mind to the examination of this 
question. It will have to be met and examined on its own merits, without 
regard to denominations or schools in religion. All who love the Saviour 
will have to settle this question each for himself. The question is now 
fairly and openly before the Church. " Is the unfermented fruit of the 
vine the proper symbol of the Redeemer's blood?' 7 I do hope and pray 
that no minister of Christ will decide hastily in favor of continuing the 
use of alcoholic wine. As I have said before, the influence of the clergy 
is great, and it should be great on all subjects connected with our salva- 
tion. This has been forcibly exhibited as the Temperance cause has 
advanced. When the minister has been forward, the people have rapidly 
followed ; when the minister has been cold and lukewarm, or opposed, 
the people have been so likewise, until he was either removed or con- 
verted. Some yet from the pulpit declare that the use of intoxicating 
wine in moderation is according to the Word of God. Those that preach 
thus are doubtless sincere. Not long since a clergyman, in delivering a 
Temperance address, preached this doctrine — an aged man arose after the 
clergyman had finished his address, and begged the privilege of saying a 
few words. It being granted, he remarked that he had a son, the staff of 
his declining years, who had heard from the pulpit such sentiments ad- 
vanced as he had listened to, and in consequence had become a moderate 
drinker, and then a drunkard, and then filled a drunkard's grave — and, 
said the aged man, the clergyman from whom he received these lessons 
has j nst addressed you. 

I had a dear friend whose son had reformed for eighteen months, and 
all considered him safe, but happening to be at a public house, he there 
saw a clergyman call for a glass of beer ; at once the example affected 
him ; he said if the clergyman can take a glass of beer, why can not I ? 
He took one and another ; became again a beastly sot, and died a drunk- 
ard. I had a man in my own employ whom I had persuaded to abandon 
strong drink, but hearing a clergyman in a Temperance lecture allude to 
the ultraism of the times in condemning fermented wine, he went im- 
mediately from the church to the tavern and called for a glass of rum and 
drank the minister's health, and said, " He is the man for me." I could 
multiply such facts to any extent, but it is unnecessary. No one doubts 
the overwhelming influence of the clergy for good or for evil, if by 



94 LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 

chance they take a wrong view of an important question. I wish to see 
every minister of Christ occupying such a position in all its bearings that 
no one can point to him and say, " It was through your example and in- 
fluence I have been made a drunkard, or kept from being reclaimed," but 
rather that the minister of the Lord should everywhere be pointed at as 
leading the way, and setting the temperate a proper and constant exam- 
ple, and in sustaining the poor drunkard in his efforts to break the chains 
of the monster appetite under which he has been in bondage ; and should 
the poor drunkard be led back to sobriety through the Total Abstinence 
doctrine of his pastor or others, and be converted, can that pastor adminis- 
ter to him without fear and trembling the cup of intoxication at the Com- 
munion table ? Yours, etc., E. C. D. 



LETTER XIII. 



Dear Brethren — The influence the missionary has had upon the Chris- 
tian Church, and upon the world at large, is acknowledged by all. That 
influence is rapidly extending, and the idea is spreading, that should the 
Church be faithful to its duty, a comparatively short period may see the 
whole world evangelized. 

I have for years thought that an argument might be drawn from our 
duty to the heathen in favor of the change I advocate, even more power- 
ful than that from the reformed converted drunkard. 

In Christian lands we have had to work our way in a manner back- 
ward ; we have had to labor to undo, in a great measure, what in igno- 
rance Christian men and the Church have been doing for generations. 
We have had to commence far down among the lowest grade in society, 
and by degrees come up to the domestic hearth of the middling classes, 
and again to the higher walks, and intercede with them to forego the 
alcoholic cup as a beverage, that the world may be freed from the 
curse of intemperance. How all these various classes have responded, 
it is not now my object to recapitulate. Now we approach with hope, 
confidence, and faith to the altar of the living God. Will the Church 
listen ? Will she not give a favorable response ? My faith is strong that 
she will. 

Such were the customs and fashions of past times in our country that 
the drinking usages had eaten into the very core of the social system, and 
it had become almost a part of the religion of men to drink. Said an 
aged divine in Edinburgh, Scotland, while I was there, " If your principle 
of Total Abstinence prevail, the clergy will lose their influence over their 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 95 

people ; for now, when they come to see us, we give them something to 
drink ; should it be known that we offer nothing, they would not come, 
and then we should lose the opportunity of admonishing them as to their 
eternal welfare." 

With regard to the benighted heathen world, all this may be reversed 
if we begin right now. The Church will not, centuries hence, have to 
undo the wrong practice in this branch of duty. The missionary goes 
abroad that he may exhibit the contrast between heathenism and Chris- 
tianity, even to the minutest thing, and, if possible, to avoid "even the 
appearance of evil." 

All interested in the cause of missions understand that one of the 
greatest hindrances to the progress of the Gospel is the awful extent 
of drunkenness among the heathen ; and we blush to say it, the habit has 
been taught and sanctioned by men bearing the Christian name ! To re- 
deem this name from reproach is one of the first objects the missionary 
has to undertake. This he can do in one important branch of morals, and 
I believe he universally does abandon, himself, the use of all that can in- 
toxicate, and endeavor to induce others to follow his example. But 
should a different course be adopted, I should expect that Christianity 
would be as little promoted hereafter by the introduction of the drink of 
the drunkard among the heathen, in the form of wine by the missionary, 
as civilization has been heretofore by the introduction of the same drink 
in the form of fire-water by the Indian trader. 

It appears to me that the missionary should not only teach abstinence 
from all that intoxicates, while speaking from the pulpit, but also while 
ministering at the Communion table ; and how can this be done so effect- 
ually as by substituting in place of intoxicating wine the mere fruit of the 
vine, free from poison, whether generated by fermentation or superadded 
by drugging ? 

It appears to me that the missionary should not only teach abstinence 
from all that can intoxicate as a beverage, but should also be permitted 
to teach the same principle while officiating at the Communion table ; 
and how could this be done so effectually as by substituting the Fruit of 
the Vine, free from alcohol, for the intoxicating wine ? The feeble disci- 
ple, then but just converted from idolatry, will see that the minister of the 
Lord discourages the use of alcohol on all occasions, and will by degrees be 
brought to view its common use as sinful. The appearance of it will put 
him in mind of his idolatry, and he will flee from it as from the face of a 
serpent. To taste the intoxicating cup would be like returning to kiss his 
false God. 

We can easily conceive the danger which surrounds the new convert 
but just drawn by the grace of God from his idol worship, and perhaps 
from habits of intemperance, at his first communion season, should the 



96 LETTERS RELATIVE -TO COMMUNION WINE. 

intoxicating cup be presented to him. The minister of Christ holds out 
to him the Bible as the groundwork of his hopes, and a cup of alcohol 
which he must drink in obedience to the requirements of that holy Word 
—the Bible in one hand, and the cup of intoxication in the other ! while 
on common occasions he has been taught to love and reverence the one 
and detest the other. His simple mind, unable to make distinctions, 
which even the most refined and intelligent begin to find it difficult to 
make as to time, place, or quantity, will at once associate a sacredness 
with the cup of intoxication ; his longing desires, originating in previous 
habits, might blind his mind to any reasoning whish fails to succeed often- 
times with more enlightened minds, and he would very soon lose his ab- 
horrence for that as a daily drink which has been presented to him with 
so much solemnity at the Lord's table. 

Perhaps he only takes the same liquor at the feast of his Saviour 
which he heretofore took at the feast of his idol, and it produces the 
same longings, and why may we not suppose the same consequences will 
follow ? 

There is surely no need of running such risks ; the Fruit of the Vine, 
free from alcohol, can be had in all pagan countries as readily as the fruit 
of fermentation. Why, then, should not our missionaries be at once di- 
rected to make the change for which I plead ? 

There are also hundreds of millions of our race that yet know not God, 
but still abhor intoxicating wine, and by their present religion are pro- 
hibited its use. Why should we, then, by its introduction at the Lord's 
table, seek to introduce this deleterious drink into these regions, where it 
is now viewed with abhorrence ? Why should we teach the converts 
of these countries to love this substance at the Lord's table, which, to 
drink on common occasions, leads to every species of wickedness and 
misery ? 

There is no part of the world where missionaries have gone where this 
change is not to be desired. In the region of Syria, we have the author- 
ity of the Rev. Eli Smith of the deadly influence of even the purest 
wine. "Of the inebriating effects," says he, " of the wines of tbe Medi- 
terranean, we have often powerful evidence. On first going to Malta, at 
the beginning of the Temperance reformation, with the impression I had 
received here, that there was no danger from the pure wines of those 
countries, I fell in with what I found to be the prevailing custom, and 
took a little wine with my dinner. At length I found an intimate friend 
falling into habits of intoxication from using the common Massala wine 
of Sicily. I then gave up my wine, and so far as I know, all my breth- 
ren abstain from the habitual use of it as a temperance measure. In pre- 
paring a tract on Temperance for circulation in Syria, we have included 
wine with brandy as one of tbe causes of intemperance to be avoided." In 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 97 

the East Indies the same change is demanded, as European customs have 
there spread, a wider and more fatal influence in favor of intoxicating 
drinks. The Rev. Dr. Scudder, of Madras, says : " In India, drunkenness 
prevails in the higher circles ; but it is to be seen in its widest range 
among the middle classes of Europeans and East Indians. Half of the 
natives of this city, we have been told, get drunk daily. Probably half 
of the Europeans who die in the hospitals in Black Town die of intem- 
perance." To counteract this mighty influence for evil, to whom are we 
to look, under God, but to our missionaries ? And while these missiona- 
ries bless and dispense the instrument of drunkenness at the Lord's table, 
it never will be viewed as wrong to be used in moderation on common 
occasions. The recent forcible imposition of French brandies and other 
intoxicating drinks upon the Sandwich islanders has met with universal 
condemnation ; yet if the missionaries themselves bless and use the same 
substance to be administered to their converts at the Lord's table, some 
one must ship it to them, and why not the French as well as the wine 
fabricators of Boston or New York ? The banishment of intoxicating 
liquors must be complete, or nothing will be accomplished ; the name is 
nothing, it is the thing that occasions all the evil ; it is the alcohol. 
Let this substance not only have the hatred of the king of these recently 
Christianized islands, but the missionary also and his converts, and nei- 
ther the French government nor the cupidity of our own countrymen 
would find it to their advantage to ship their poisons to these simple- 
hearted people. Should all our missionaries in all parts of the world, es- 
pecially in wine countries, at once make this change, the influence would, 
in my opinion, react most benignly on our churches at home. These 
unbiased and unsophisticated examples of the followers of the Lamb 
could not but have its influence on those Christian communities which had 
by their prayers and contributions been the means, under Providence, in 
bringing them into the fold of the Redeemer. 

To the minds of many, the millennium day is rapidly approaching. 
The signs of the latter-day glory are not few, and none of the least 
of these, to my mind, is the present movement in the Temperance cause 
throughout the world. Since the days of the Apostles, nothing has been 
known like it. Men are moving in masses under a great moral and 
irresistible impulse. Those that throw themselves in the way of this 
mighty enterprise of benevolence, with the hope of arresting it, will 
either have to yield to this impulse, get out of the way, or lose all influ- 
ence for good. The millions in Ireland, the hundreds of thousands in 
England and Scotland, the two millions in this land, and the thousands 
and tens of thousands of drunkards reforming, all give strong indications 
that the reign of alcohol is approaching its termination. This great 
enterprise has already been John the Baptist to millions preparing the 
9 



98 LETTEES RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 

way of the Lord ; and when the Lord does come, should it not be the 
earnest prayer of his followers that all his altars should be entirely puri- 
fied from the cup of intoxication ? 

Yours, etc., E. C. D. 



LETTER XIV. 



Dear Brethren — It is a blessed thing that we are permitted to live in 
a land where no one class has absolute control over another, either 
spiritual or temporal. All are permitted to worship God according to 
the dictates of their consciences, and to discuss with entire freedom all 
matters relative either to their religious or civil liberty. To our Puritan 
fathers we are indebted for this, and may their children watch with the 
utmost care every encroachment upon their sacred rights. If an indi- 
vidual Christian feels that there is a practice in the Church with which 
he is connected injurious in its tendency, it is his duty in every proper 
way to seek for its abatement. In the question before us, I conclude 
the officers of churches have much to do. I suppose it is in all our 
churches their duty to provide the elements to be used at the Sacra- 
ment, and as there is no rule laid down, as far as I have heard of, as to 
the particular kind of wine to be used at the Lord's table, I conclude 
they will all be disposed to provide the ' ' Fruit of the Vine' ' of an un- 
exceptionable character when they are perfectly satisfied as to what it 
should be. Yet the change from the fruit of fermentation to the " Fruit 
of the Tine" may be so great when the subject has not been discussed 
or examined, that evil consequences might result from its violent intro- 
duction. All this can be avoided by kind and free discussion between 
the pastor and the people ; and if the subject is introduced with an ardent 
desire to advance the cause of religion and the glory of God, a short time 
will suffice to bring all to see as one, and act as one. 

In the church with which I am connected, the unfermented wine has 
been introduced ; in doing it, some mistakes, I think, were committed, 
and misunderstanding and unkind feeling for a short time was the con- 
sequence, which has occasioned church action. 

Yours, etc., E. C. D. 



LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 99 



LETTER XV. 

Dear Brethren — In concluding these Letters, permit me to express a 
fear that steps may be taken that will require to be retraced. I am 
aware that there is a general disgust in many minds on account of the 
strength and quality of the liquors now in use in our churches, and some 
seek to relieve their minds by mixing water with these strong drinks. 
The wines generally used at the Sacrament are about 44 per cent, proof 
spirit, or nearly half as strong as brandy. Suppose these strong winea 
should be reduced one half, still the half of the alcohol remains, and in 
all probability mixed with a due proportion of drugs ; and it will appeal 
to any common-sense mind that the argument remains as strong against 
the half that is left as the half that has been taken away. No holding 
up of church testimony against the making, vending, or drinking of al- 
cohol, either on common occasions or at the Lord's table, would follow 
such a half-way measure. It would be as ineffectual to remove the evil 
in the Church as the ardent-spirit pledge was to remove drunkenness, or 
cure drunkenness in or out of the Church. The calculation is, that our 
churches consume about 80,000 gallons at the Sacrament yearly ; about 
20,000 of it is pure alcohol. So long as the maker and vender can point 
to the Church as a customer on so large a scale, they will throw back with 
contempt the charge that they are employed in an immoral trade. 

I fear, dear brethren, I have trespassed too long upon your patience ; I 
may attach too much importance to the question, it having occupied my 
mind for so many years. When I commenced writing, my intention was 
to have asked the columns of some religious paper, but afterward I con- 
cluded that I would give my views in a pamphlet, so as to present what I 
had to say and what others have to say on the question in a connected 
form and in one document. I think I can not be mistaken in the belief 
that the time has now fully come when the Christian community are ready 
and willing to go into a full, candid, and dispassionate examination of this 
important question, and that it will be entered upon with a sincere desire 
to advance the cause of truth. E. C. D. 



P. S. — Although I have addressed professing Christians in the foregoing 
Letters, yet I natter myself my brethren in the Total Abstinence army all 
over the world, whether in or out of the Church, with whom I have trav- 
eled for so many years, and so prosperously in the Temperance cause, ad- 



100 LETTERS RELATIVE TO COMMUNION WINE. 

vancing step by step, as light has enabled us to advance, will give this 
last great question their immediate and dispassionate attention, remembering 
that they stand pledged before the world " in all suitable ways" to promote the 
cause of Temperance to the fullest extent. Should there be any profits 
arising from this work, it will all be devoted to the great object we all 
have in view. 



Wherein Consists the Difference ? 



The grog-shop keeper deals out the " mocker' 7 /^ gold to his customers. 

Christians, as well as others, keep the same poisonous ' ' mocker' ' in 
their dwellings, deal it out, and give it to their families and friends. 

Church officers purchase the liquid poison, which "biteih like a serpent 
and stingeth like an adder," and Christian ministers dispense it at the so-called 
Table of the Lord, inviting all to drink of it ! ! ! 



OFFICERS OF THE 

NATIONAL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY 

AND 

PUBLICATION HOUSE. 

♦♦> 

President of tlie Society. 

HON. WILLIAM E. DODGE New York City. 

Vice-Presidents. 

E. C. DELAYAN South Ballston, N. Y. 

CHAN. R. H. WALWORTH Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 

GOV. WM. A. BUCKINGHAM Norwich. Conn. 

HON. HORACE GREELEY New York City. 

REY. DR. HEWITT Bridgeport, Conn. 

REY. DR. I. N. WYCKOFF Albany, N. Y. 

MAJOR-GENERAL HOWARD Washington, D. C. 

GEO. H. STUART Philadelphia, Pa. 

REY. H. W. BEECHER Brooklyn, N. Y. 

JOHN B. GOUGH Worcester, Mass. 

HON. JAMES HARLAN Washington, D. C. 

R. W. STEELE Dayton, Ohio. 

E. J. MORRIS Indianapolis, Ind. 

D. R. PERSHTNG Liberty Mills, Ind. 

WM. BALLENTYNE Washington, D. C. 

JOHN TAPPAN Boston, Mass. 

BISHOP E. S. JANES 21 East 4th Street, New York City. 

HON. GERRIT SMITH Peterboro, N. Y. 

REY. DR. N. S. S. BEEMAN Carbondale, HI. 

PROF. A. B. PALMER Ann Arbor, Mich. 

MATTHEW W. BALDWIN Philadelphia, Pa. 

HON. A. C. BARSTOW Providence, R. I. 

REY. S. H. TYNG, D.D 209 East 16th St., New York City. 

HON. J. WARREN MERRILL Cambridge, Mass. 

REY. DR. DOWLLNG 6 Ashland Place, New York City. 

GEN. NEAL DOW Portland. Me. 

BENJAMIN JOY Penn Yan, N. Y. 

GEN. S. F. CARY Cincinnati, Ohio. 

REY. DR. ASAD. SMITH Hanover, N. H. 

DR. J. J. BRADFORD Augusta, Ky. 

PROF. C. A. LEE, M.D Peekskill, N. Y. 

PROF. YOUMANS Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 

REY. J. W. CHICKERING, D.D Boston. Mass. 

CHARLES HATHAWAY Delhi, N. Y. 

E. REMINGTON Rion, N. Y. 

REY. JOHN MARSH, D.D 5 Beekman Street, New York City. 

HON. SAMUEL WILXESTON East Hampton, Mass. 

B. H. MILLS \ Upper Alton, El. 

REY. DR. NELSON St. Louis, Mo. 

EL S. WELLS Chicago, El. • 



102 NATIONAL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. 

DAVID RIPLEY Newark, N. J. 

S. D. HASTINGS Madison, Wis. 

WILLIAMSON Wilmington, Del. 

REV. H. C. FISH, D.D Newark, N. J. 

REV. J. B. WAKELY Sing Sing, N Y. 

WILLIAM H. BURLEIGH 104 Wall Street, New York City. 

JOHN SHERRY Sag narbor, N. Y. 

THEODORUS GREGORY Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 

CHARLES HOPKINS New York. 

SIMEON MORRILL London, Canada East. 

JOHN DOUGALL . .Montreal, Canada East. 

HON. S. L. TILLEY Frederickton, New Brunswick. 

REV. J. M. CRAMP Wolfville, Nova Scotia. 

Treasurer . 

WILLIAM A. BOOTH 97 Front Street, New York City. 

JLssistant Treasurer. 

THOS. T. SHEFFIELD 91 Wall Street, New York City. 

Temporary Corresponding (Secretary. 

REV. J. B. DUNN 186 19th Street, New York City. 

I*ixolisning Agent. 

J. N. STEARNS 172 William Street, New York City. 

Financial Agent. 

GEORGE E. SICKLES 173 William St., New York City. 

Board of Managers. 

REV. T. L. CTJYLER Brooklyn, N. Y. 

GEN. JOSEPH S. SMITH Custom House, New York City. 

REV. DR. W. W. NEWELL 66 Second Avenue, " " ' 

REV. PETER STRYKER 205 West 31st Street, " " 

REV. KENDELL BROOKS Philadelphia, Pa. 

T. M. SPELMAN 30 Warren Street, New York City. 

JOHN DAVIES 183 William Street, 

REV. N. E. COBLEIGH Boston, Mass. 

J. B. MERWIN 125Bleecker St., New York City. 

REV. EDWIN THOMPSON East Walpole, Mass. * 

PETER CARTER 530 Broadway, New York City. 

ALVAN B. PRESTON 69 Murray Street, " 

JAMES BLACK , Lancaster, Pa. 

REV. J. B. DUNN 186 19th Street, New York City. 

WM. B. SPOONER .Boston, Mass. 

J. N. STEARNS 172 William Street, New York City. 

REV. CYRUS D. FOSS 289 Fourth Avenue, " " ' 

A. S. HUNTER, M.D 363 Broome Street, " " 

E.A.LAMBERT 45 John Street, " " 

S. B. RANSOM Jersey City, N. J. 

T. T. SHEFFIELD , .91 Wall Street, New York City. 

REV. R. R. MEREDITH Cohoes, N. Y. 

A. P. NORTON .117 Nassau Street, New York City. 

* R. S. DOTY 153 Chambers Street, " 

R. G. PARDEE 92 Broadway, " " 

J.W.LESTER 63 Broadway, " " 

A. A. ROBINS 193 Chambers Street, " " 

*#* E. C. Delavan, Esq., was elected a member of the Board of Managers and chair 
man of the Finance Committee, at the organization of the Society, but declined the 
positions on account of the state of his health. He was then unanimously elected 
first Vice-President. 



3STo. 8. 

♦♦ 

A 

CONDENSED REPORT 

OP THE TRIAL OF THE CAUSE OP 

JOHN TAYLOR VS. EDWARD C. DELAYAN. 

PROSECUTED FOR AN ALLEGED 

LIBEL. 

TRIED AT THE ALBANY CIRCUIT, APRIL,, 1840. 



TRIAL FOR LIBEL. 

Circuit Court, April Term, 1840. 
Judge Cushman presiding. 



John Taylor, 

vs. 

Edward C. Delayan. 



Counsel for plaintiff, Messrs. Stevens, Reynolds, McKown 

and Van Buren. 

Counsel for defendant, Messrs. Beardsley, Taber and Whea- 

ton. 

the prosecution. 

Tuesday, April 21, 1840. 
Mr. Stevens opened with a brief statement of plaintiff's case, 
and proceeded to read the alleged libel from the Evening Jour- 
nal of the 12th February, 1835, as follows : 

"TO THE PUBLIC. 

" The following statement has been made by a respectable and responsible 

person, in the presence of Chief Justice Savage and E. C. Delavan; (the 

former took down the testimony.) The individual making the disclosure 

felt a delicacy in giving his name to the public ; but, should his statements 



4 BEER TRIAL. 

be denied, he stands ready, not only to give his name, but make oath to the 
facts," 

"He states, that so long since as six or seven years he was knowing to 
the fact of Fidler and Taylor's, and Robert Dunlap's malting establishment 
on the hill in Albany, being supplied with water for malting from stagnant 
pools, gutters and ditches, often in such a state as to be green on the sur- 
face; that such water was collected for several seasons to his knowledge. 
That he had not only seen the water of this character collected, but deposited 
in the malting establishment for the use of malting. That no attention was 
ever paid to cleanliness ; the water was often taken from puddles in which 
were dead animala. When the water was low in the pools, holes were some- 
times made, in which the pail was sunk ; and he had seen the sides of it come 
in contact with dead animals in a state of putridity ; has seen water carried 
to the malt houses nearly as thick as cream with filth ; saw last winter water 
passing on carts coming from the direction of the same filthy ponds, and 
taken to the malt houses. There are several malt houses on the hill, all of 
which, he believes, rely on water taken from such places as he has described, 
occasionally. That the facts here stated he believes to be known to hun- 
dreds residing in the neighborhood of the malting establishments. He states, 
also, that seven hogsheads of water are usually placed in a steep-tub at a 
time, and it is then filled with barley ; rthat he has seen a deposit or sedi- 
ment of from ten to twelve inches of the most filthy matter settle to the bot- 
tom from that quantity of water. This has been from water collected from 
the places described. That he has no unkind feeling towards any of the 
brewers ; that he is astonished they should deny facts so easily to be proved ; 
that he knows several cartmen who for years have been employed in carting 
water from the places described to .the malt houses. That Mr. Fidler, now 
Fidler and Ryckman, was recently of the firm of Fidler and Taylpr ; and that 
Mr.. John Taylor was of the same firm." 

Also that of the 17th February, 1885, as follows : 

« TO THE PUBLIC. 

"The conductors of the Temperance Press publish nothing which they do 
not believe to be entirely true ; the statements with regard to impure water 
made use of by certain malting establishments were furnished by respectable 
citizens, who have given their affidavits as to the facts. When legal steps 
are taken by those who feel themselves aggrieved, the public may rest as- 
sured that nothing has been stated but what can be most abundantly sus- 
tained by proof.*" 

For the publication of these libels Mr. Taylor claimed to 
recover $70,000 damages. The publications were proved, and 
the only question was as to their truth or falsity. Mr. Delavan 
instructed his counsel to put him before the jury on the truth 
of the matter charged. 

The plaintiff's counsel here rested. 

Mr. Taber opened the defence to the jury, and thus stated 
the issue to be tried : 

That you may understand this case, and as the counsel for 



BEER TRIAL. 105 

the plaintiff has not stated what the issue is, it becomes my 
duty to call your attention to the distinct issue. This case 
has been before the supreme court, or rather another one by 
Mr. Ficller, the partner of Mr. Taylor, precisely like this, and 
the pleadings in that case have undergone the revision of that 
court. The precise question is thus stated by the Chief Jus- 
tice : 

" That six or seven years ago (that is, previous to the publication,) the 
plaintiff caused his malting establishment on the hill in Albany to be sup- 
plied with filthy, putrid water, such as is taken from pools, gutters and 
ditches, in which were dead, putrid animals ; that the water was often so 
foul and polluted as to be green on the surface, and nearly as thick as cream 
with filth ; that such water had been used by plaintiff for several seasons in 
malting for his brewery ; and that steep-tubs used for that purpose, which 
usually contained seven hogsheads, had a deposit of ten or twelve inches of 
the most filthy matter that settled to the bottom of them. This is the es- 
sence of the charge as laid in the declaration, as understood by the general 
reader, and which the defendant was bound to justify.'' 

Thomas Coulson (class teacher, Methodist Church) was 
first sworn for defendant : 

Examination direct: I resided on the hill in Albany about 
nineteen years ; had a glue factory near Willet street ; carried 
on that glue factory fourteen years ; the malt house of the 
plaintiff was built previously; I knew the malt house of Fidler 
& Taylor near me ; there was a pond between my glue factory 
and this malt house ; the water in this was always bad ; in a 
putrid state in the fall of the year ; different kinds of animals 
were floating in the water ; in the warmth of the weather the 
water was green ; dogs and cats and hogs I've seen ; I have 
seen a dead horse that died there, pretty near the pond, on the 
rising ground near it ; the horse remained there ; they don't 
do anything in summer in malting ; when the fall comes they 
take the water ; they commenced about October ; there were 
dead animals in the water ; it would not do to make glue of 
that water ; it was what I call rotten water ; I have seen it 
taken in hogsheads into the malt house — poured through at 
the end of the malt house — into Taylor's malt house, through 



106 BEER TRIAL. 

troughs ; the wash of my glue factory ran into the pond ; a 
great many cart loads of this water were carried into the malt 
house ; very often two carts were going at once ; as far as I can 
recollect, they began to dip up and carry this water into the 
malt house in '26 or '27, and continued until '33 or '34 ; they 
drove the cart and horse into it, and dipped it up with a dip- 
per; sometimes with a long handle and sometimes with a short 
one ; have seen Mr. Taylor there. 

Cross-examined : Did you at the time know what they were 
doing with that water ? I could not know; saw where it went 
to ; don't know what purpose they put it to ; I saw them run- 
ning it into the house ; that is all I can say on the subject ; I 
have seen it dipped when frozen. When you saw it, was it 
frozen ? Sometimes. Sometimes not ? In frosty weather it 
was frozen, in warm weather not. 

The Court. — How did you see it ? I saw it as they passed 
me, and as I passed them ; the pond was near me. 

Direct resumed : My glue factory was distant from the pond 
perhaps seven or eight hundred feet ; from my house, about 
five hundred feet ; the pond and the malt house were in plain 
sight from the glue factory and the house. 

Gross-examined : Hardly ever saw the time in the fall when 
there were not dead animals in the pond. 

Henry Rector, sworn. — Examination direct: Resided in 
this city nearly twenty-seven years ; am a surveyor and archi- 
tect ; drew this map ; [map shown] it is substantially a cor- 
rect representation of the relative position of objects; from 
the nature of the ground I should think the pond was stagnant 
water ; saw dead animals there a few days ago. 

John Savage, (late Chief Justice,) sworn. — Examination 
direct : I resided in Albany in 1835 ; I lived here from 1822 
to 1837 ; I lived on the hill; had occasion to observe, previous 
to 1835, the pond spoken of; saw it frequently, from 1827 to 
1837 ; being out of health, I was in the habit of riding by it 



BEER TRIAL. 107 

with my family ; the water was always dirty ; never saw it 
otherwise ; it was not fit for food or drink ; my horse refused 
to drink it ; I have seen dead animals there ; and I believe I 
have seen dogs and cats and hogs ; observed this for several 
years, between 1827 and 1835. 

Charles W. Harvey, sworn. — Examination direct : I am 
a surgeon dentist ; resided in Albany from 1811 up to 1829 ; 
returned to the city in 1832 ; resided from 1824 to 1828 with 
John Quinlan, my brother-in-law ; he was a gardener ; some- 
times employed as a cartman ; have assisted him in drawing 
water for the plaintiff's malt house, prior to 1835 ; we got it 
mostly from the big pond ; the pond south of the plaintiff's 
malt house, on Lark street ; the water was let into the build- 
ing from the bottom of the hogsheads, by a conductor, through 
a trough ; sometimes into a well or a steep-tub ; I think in a 
well ; either one or the other ; when let into the well, it was 
pumped out into a steep tub ; I assisted in drawing this water, 
I think, from fifteen or twenty places ; from the big pond ; 
that was always a standing source ; and then, after rains, from 
whatever points were nearest the malt house ; from puddles on 
the surface, and from Poor House creek, and from the vicinity 
of Judson's slaughter house ; that was located, I think, on 
Orange street, north of the Schenectady turnpike ; there were 
puddles in front of the grave yards that we got water from ; 
part of the offal of the slaughter house drained into the pond 
from which water was taken, near the slaughter house ; I drew 
water from the big pond four or five seasons — the pond in the 
vicinity of the malt house ; the character of the water in that 
pond was very bad ; bad, from the fact that it was receiving 
almost all the offal from the hill ; dead hogs and dogs and cats 
and horses all drawn very near the pond ; many in the pond, and 
with the sun on them, making it exceedingly foul, so that in 
drawing it frequently made me sick ; on the banks of the pond 
there were dead animals ; almost always more or less dead ani- 



108 BEER TRIAL. 

nials in the water ; I have seen dead cats and dogs while dip- 
ping, and I think hogs ; not sure, however ; seen dead horses 
up towards the glue factory ; they were left there to decay ; 
commenced dipping the first cold weather ; I think in October 
or thereabouts ; these four or five seasons that I spoke of, I 
began to draw water for this malt house, I should think, in the 
commencement of the season — of the malting season : this con- 
tinued as long as the cold weather continued ; they required 
cold weather for malting ; I dipped water in the winter, when 
it was frozen — cut a hole through the ice ; I have frequently 
seen dead animals there in the winter ; they would come to the 
hole from the wash of the water ; I have drowned cats in these 
holes myself; it was the ordinary way to drown cats in these 
holes ; they came to the hole frequently, so as to be trouble- 
some ; the water was green in the fall ; not so green as I have 
seen it before ; I suppose from the decomposition of animal 
matter and filth ; there were some privies on the ravine, lead- 
ing directly down to the pond ; seven hogsheads of water were 
put into a steep-tub at a time ; the barley was then let in ; I 
believe usually after the water is put in ; it is suffered to re- 
main forty -eight hours ; the water is then drawn off ; I have 
seen barley taken out after being soaked ; the sediment at the 
bottom was very thick ; after the water is let off, and it has 
drained some time, the maltsters throw it out with scoops, and 
as they approach the bottom it is frequently discolored — in 
other malt houses more than in this — the barley and sediment 
settling together, and the mass being cleaner as you get up to 
the top ; sometimes more sediment than others, depending on 
the cleanliness of the water from rains or other causes ; have 
seen the plaintiff about the malt house about the period I speak 
of; I think I have seen Mr. Fidler there more than Mr. Tay- 
lor, but I have seen them both there ; there was no other pur- 
pose for which water was needed in that malt house, except for 
malting ; the water was not all used in the steep tubs ; it was 



BEER TRIAL. 109 

used in sprinkling the barley after it was thrown out ; but it 
was all used for the purpose of malting. 

Israel Smith, (elder in Rev. Mr. Kirk's church,) sworn. 
— Examination direct: Witness knew the pond called the big 
pond ; heard the testimony of Judge Savage as to the charac- 
acter of the water ; generally when witness had seen it, the 
water looked filthy ; had frequently seen dead animals in it as 
he was riding by — dogs, hogs and cats ; had frequently seen 
carcasses of dead horses lying on the margin of it. Witness 
spoke of a period some sixteen years ago, when he owned a 
dyeing establishment at Norman's kill. Fifteen years before, 
and including 1835, witness passed the pond frequently; some- 
times three or four times a week. The character of the water 
during the fifteen years spoken of was very much the same, 
differing with the different seasons of the year. 

The court here adjourned until Wednesday, April 22. 

Garret Middleton, sworn. — Examination direct : Wit- 
ness lives in Spring street, on the hill; knew the malt house 
on the corner of State and Lark streets ; believed it used to 
belong to Fidler and Taylor ; is acquainted with the pond 
south of it, or with the pond that used to be there ; it is partly 
filled up now ; witness drew water from that pond some years 
ago — twelve or fourteen years ago ; drew it to Mr. Taylor's 
malt house, corner of State and Lark ; drew at different times; 
witness let it run out of the hogsheads into the steep tub ; they 
had a gutter to run it from the hogshead to the steep tub ; saw 
it go in through the gutter to the steep tub ; it was very dirty 
water, stagnant, all turned green ; have seen dead dogs and 
cats in this pond ; think I have seen dead pigs ; not positive 
about that ; but I have seen dead dogs and cats in it; the water 
was such as I have described when I was drawing it. 

Thomas A. Hughes, sworn. — Examination direct: Reside 

in Washington street, on the hill ; am acquainted with the 

malt house on the corner of State and Lark streets, and the 
10 



110 BEER TRIAL. 

pond near it ; have assisted in drawing water from this pond 
some time ago ; should think from ten to twelve years ago ; 
have drawn it to this same malt house ; can't tell how many 
hogsheads ; have drawn there a number of times — a number of 
steeps ; I worked for Mr Butler, off and on, four seasons ; it 
ran right from the hogsheads to the steep tubs ; it was green, 
filthy looking water when I drew it ; I have seen dogs and cats 
and hogs in it when drawing it ; it had a green looking filthy 
look. 

James D. Wasson, (late alderman,) sworn. — Examination 
direct : Have been a resident of Albany since 1811, with the 
exception of four" years ; know the pond in Lark street, and the 
malt house on the corner of Lark and State ; have passed it very 
often for a great many years — perhaps at all seasons ; I should 
think the water in the pond unwholesome, bad water generally; 
I think I have seen in it cats and dogs and hogs — dead and 
alive ; I have seen live hogs wallowing there in the summer 
season ; no recollection of ever seeing anything on the banks. 

Amos Fassett, (elder in Rev. Dr. Campbell's church,) 
sworn. — Examination direct: Am acquainted with the pond 
and malt house in question ; have seen water drawn from the 
pond to the malt house previous to '35 ; seen it deposited in 
the malt house, at the north end ; the water I should call very 
impure ; it has always been bad ; I have known it for a great 
number of years ; it was a place of general deposit for all 
kinds of dead animals, at all seasons of the year; I have 
known the pond twenty-five years ; the water has been growing 
less every year, the pond gradually filling up ; when it was 
deep, the water was not so impure as now, though it was al- 
ways a receptacle for dead animals ; I have seen dead dogs and 
cats and hogs there — dead cows on the ice in the winter — dead 
horses ; I have seen the water at different times, when passing, 
put into the malt house ; I should think more seasons than 
one. 



BEER TRIAL. . Ill 

Patrick Rooney, sworn. — Examination direct: Previous 
to 1835 lived on the hill with Mr. Delavan, and still live in 
his family; been with him since 1828; when employed as a 
coachman, and in driving the cow to pasture morning and 
night, two seasons, frequently passed the malt house and pond; 
these seasons were either '31 and '33, or '32 and '34, not suc- 
cessive seasons ; saw water taken from the pond to the malt 
house ; not often, once in a while ; they put it into the north 
end of the malt house, through a trough, as near as I could 
judge ; I have seen this done more than one season ; it was 
taken on a cart in a hogshead. 

John Lossing, sworn. — Examination direct: Have resided 
in the city twenty- eight years ; I am acquainted with the malt 
house and pond spoken of; have observed the water in the 
pond at different times for five and twenty years, I suppose ; 
live not far from it in Washington street ; I should call the 
water impure ; it was a place of deposit for dead animals ; it 
was not fit to be used for drink or cooking; I have seen dead 
horses^ hogs and dogs, cats, various things in it ; Mr. Gibson 
had a slaughter house that led right into it ; it has been moved 
from there some years ; can't tell how long ; the filth from the 
slaughter house went right into the ravine ; stood as Wilson's 
does in regard to the creek ; all the slaughter houses on that 
route ran into the creek — Mr. Perry's, Mr. Wilson's and an- 
other ; in fact there are four — for, besides these, Mr. Hartness 
occupied one ; I should think all these emptied into the creek 
previous to 1835. 

The court here took a recess until three o'clock, P.M. 

Laban W. Keith, sworn. — Examination direct: I have 
resided in the city about twenty-one years ; have known the 
malt house in question ever since it was built, and the pond 
near it ever since I have been here ; the water in the pond has 
always been pretty poor ; I have seen dead animals in there of 
all descriptions almost, cats, dogs, hogs, and have seen one 



112 BEER TRIAL. 

dead cow in there ; of course there was a bad smell about the 
pond when these creatures were in it ; I certainly have smelt 
it : recollect a drain or ravine from the rear of the buildings 
on Washington street, before the railroad was built, and that 
water ran in it into the pond ; there was a spring in Spring 
street, and considerable ran from that through the same ravine 
into the pond ; when there was a freshet it washed everything 
into this ravine — all kinds of filth I suspect. 

Eorert Harvet, sworn. — Examination direct: Reside in 
the city ; have resided here thirty-nine years ; have been nine 
years out of the city in that time ; I was here previous to '35, 
and am acquainted with the pond and malt house on Lark 
street ; the water in the pond was bad — stagnant water— dirty 
water ; recollect seeing carrion about there in 1818, '19, '20 
and '21 ; am acquainted with the strangers' burying ground ; 
it drains into a branch of the Poor House creek ; some of the 
places where they dig graves are quite steep ; I was here in the 
time of the cholera, in 1832 ; witnessed quite a number of bu- 
rials ; witness spoke of three corpses lying in the Potters' Field 
unburied at one time, and of three hundred and fourteen buried 
in the hollow ; don't know of more than one buried in the same 
grave ; have not seen the Potters' Field for three or four years; 
was there in '33 or '34; saw then the edge of the cofhns stick- 
ing out into the ravine ; that was where the water runs ; I am 
the brother of Dr. Harvey. 

Joseph Manuel, sworn. — Examination direct: Am ac- 
quainted with the creek that runs just back of the burying 
grounds ; as I passed I have seen blood and water come from 
the north, pass under the railroad and down the creek; I think 
this was about five years ago ; have lived here eight years — 
ever since '32 ; I have seen blood coming down this stream 
from, I think, Mr. Perry's, and from another source that joins 
it just before it passes under the railroad ; the blood and water 
ran separate some distance before they mingled ; this was ir 



BEER TRIAL. 113 

the fall of the year ; and I have seen, day after day, a cart 
carrying this bloody water to the malt house. 

Lambert Clark, sworn. — Examination direct : I know 
the pond and malt house on Lark street ; have helped to draw 
water from the pond for the malt house ; commenced working 
for Calvin Butler ten years ago ; have worked for him, off and 
on, every winter except one — sometimes a month or two ; 
worked for him in '32, '33 and '34; drew some of the water to 
the malt house ; and, if I found it any ways clear, I carried it 
for washing. What did you do with the water for the malt 
house ? Put it in the gutter that ran into the steep tub. Did 
not go into the malt house ? I have gone into the kiln to warm 
myself ; could see where the water went ; it went into the steep 
tub ; I have let it run out while I went in and warmed myself; 
have seen dead hogs, cats and a horse in the water — almost 
anything you could wish for ; the frame of a horse, I meant. 
Ever drawn any into it ? Yes, and I have carried a bag full 
of kittens and thrown them in. 

THE PROSECUTION. 

Launcelot Howard, (one of the prosecutors,) sworn. — 
Examination direct: I was a partner of Mr. Taylor in 1832 ; 
the malt house was built in 1823 ; I believe I may consider 
myself as having the entire control of the malting business 
from 1823 until 1832 — Mr. Taylor seldom interfering — hardly 
asking me a question about it ; this witness testified in sub- 
stance that the water for malting was drawn from a small 
spring and well ; and that there was never any water from this 
pond used for the purpose of malting, to his knowledge ; I 
have not known any of it being put into the malt house and 
used for malting ; my connection with the malt house closed in 
1 832, when our business was closed ; Mr. Taylor had the sole 
management afterwards ; I have had nothing to do with it 
since. 



114 BEER TRIAL. 

Cross-examined : I am plaintiff in one of the suits against 
Mr. Delavan for this publication. 

[Witness was here asked the number of suits commenced 
against Mr. Delavan on account of this publication, and of his 
knowledge of a concert among the brewers to raise money to 
prosecute fchem, but denied any knowledge of such an arrange- 
ment to raise money.] Did you apply to Robert Dunlap to 
commence a 'suit ? I did not put myself in his way. [The 
question was varied several times, and a similar answer given, 
when the court directed the witness to answer.] Did you urge 
or ask Mr. Dunlap to commence a suit ? I think it probable 
such a conversation passed ; I don't recollect it ; I have been 
in company where he has been urged ; I might have done it in 
conversation in company ; might have asked him such a question. 

William C. Helse, sworn. — Examination direct : Have 
known the pond between thirteen and fourteen years; it covered, 
when I first knew it, from three-fourths to an acre; I have seen 
carts drawing from it ; can't tell where they went with it ; 
went in different directions ; have seen thirty or forty at a time 
in there swimming ; it is fed principally by a stream ; but there 
are springs that come out from the bank on the northwest cor- 
ner ; found the barrel always full there, ever since I have 
known it ; people round used to go to the barrel to get water ; 
there were others besides that ; it was as pure water as could 
be got from any spring or stream that could be found ; I used 
it in my family when I resided there, for culinary pur- 
poses — for drinking too, or coffee, or anything of that kind. 
The pond water I used always for washing. I lived then on 
the corner of Lark and Washington streets, 50 or a hundred 
rods from the pond. Lived there about a year and a half, or 
two years ; there used to be an outlet ; never saw a dead cow 
or horse in the pond; seen plenty on the other side of the 
road; that was a general depot for them ; it is lower that side 
than the pond is ; never saw dead dogs, or cats or hogs in the 



BEER TRIAL. 115 

pond ; I have seen t.ie water colored after a storm — riley ; 
never saw it when it could be said with truth that it was as 
. thick as cream with filth ; have seen boys swimming in it in 
not weather in summer. 

Gross-examined.- — First went to live in "Washington street 
14 years ago ; lived there a year and a half; I have seen a 
little green on the south-west corner of the pond ; never saw 
it so bad but what cattle would drink it. 

The court here adjourned to 

Thursday, April 23. 

Charles Howe, sworn. — Examination direct : Never lived 
nearer the pond than Lydius street, 400 or 500 yards off ; had 
occasion to be at the pond two or three times a day ; used to 
drive through there to water, probably for six, seven or eight 
years ; don't recollect having seen dead animals in it ; I have 
seen dead horses thrown east of the road, down the hollow 
there ; I know there are springs around the pond, where bar- 
rels are sunk to get water to use ; always supposed it was fed 
by springs, because there was nothing but the wash of the hills 
that could come in; it appears to me I did see a dead dog once 
on the bank ; I saw dogs, and horses and hogs in the hollow 
below; never saw one in the water to my knowledge; in com- 
mon seasons it was as clear as common water ; in the fall not 
quite so healthy — the pond would be lower; it could not run 
off about that season. 

Nicholas Hull sworn. — Examination direct: Lived within 
half a mile of the pond for twelve years ; I pass it frequently ; 
I know of but one spring emptying into it that is running 
water ; it has a barrel into it ; the water in the pond, in some 
parts of the season, spring and fall, is pretty clear; in dry 
weather, in summer, it is pretty riley ; it then had a riley, 
muddy look ; don't know that I have seen dead animals in it 
before 1835 ; previous to 1835, have seen boys bathing in it. 

Jotham Hancock, sworn. — Examination direct: Have 



116 BEER TRIAL. 

known the pond over 20 years ; I live now within five rods of 
it ; the rest of the time within 40 rods. Can't speak of more 
than one spring ; that I know very well. Prior to 1835, was 
along by the pond almost daily ; don't recollect ever seeing 
dead animals in the pond before that year. The water was 
stagnant in a dry time in summer ; but spring and fall, it was 
fed by springs and passed off at the outlet ; it was generally 
muddy ; when very low, the hogs, geese, &c, resort there and 
keep it muddy. Can't say that I ever discovered any green 
on the surface ; if it was, I never took particular notice of it. 
.Since the repairs on Lark street — some three to five years 
ago — it has been pretty much filled up ; I should call it a 
mud-hole now. Have seen women washing there in a dry 
season. 

Cross-examined. — There was a ditch in State street formerly, 
that ran down and joined this ravine before it got to the pond ; 
there was generally a little water running in it, even in a dry 
season. Certainly, I have often seen hogs wallowing, and 
geese washing themselves in and about the pond ; one family 
raised a great many geese; I have seen 20 and 50 in a flock, 
belonging to one family; you can judge as well as I, as to the 
neatness of that animal. I think the pond has continued to 
diminish from the time I first knew it, twenty years ago. 

Edwin Scace, sworn, — Examination direct: Have known 
the pond 16 or 17 years; when I first knew the pond, I should 
think when full, it would cover pretty near an acre and a half; 
when down to the drain, probably an acre or an acre and a 
quarter; I have seen the pond, some years, look pretty well 
through the season; other years, in summer, I have seen it 
thick and muddy — unfit for use; in the spring and fall it gen- 
erally appeared pretty good; it always was until it got below 
the drain; then it looked more riley. I considered it good to 
use, when it was high enough to run through the drain, for 
cooking, &c. I believe I have drank the water of the pond 



BEER TRIAL. 117 

once or twice. Could not say that I have known of its being 
used, when it was high enough to run through the drain, for 
cooking, &c. There were persons drawing it for different 
places. Think I have seen dead animals in the pond — dead 
hogs; have seen numbers of dead animals in the hollow on the 
other side of the road. 

George Cotjchman, sworn, — 'Examination direct: I am a 
malster; I was in Mr. Taylor's employ, in the season of 1831 
and '30; worked for him again in '35, in the malt-house on 
the hill; got the water for malting, principally, from a well in 
the malt-house; got none from the pond to my knowledge. 

John G-. "White, (brewer and prosecutor,) sworn. — Exam- 
ination direct : My first acquaintance with ihe pond was in 
1827; continued to know it intimately until 1830, or the spring 
of 1831; I was there, on an average, once a week perhaps 
from fall to spring, sometimes oftener; can't say that I ever 
saw any dead animals in the pond; don't know whether the 
pond is supplied by springs or not; don't know that I could 
say it was fit for any purpose; I would not drink it if I could 
get better. 

Gross-examined.— Don't know but I am one of the malsters 
on the hill that has sued Mr. Delavan for this publication; a 
suit has been entered. I have known the pond since 1831, 
not as familiary as before; my business has been ever since on 
the hill; I am still a malster; don't know that I ever examined 
the pond particularly in summer and fall; never had occasion 
to go to it in the fall; I think I have seen it when there was 
not a stream running out of it. Did not get all or the princi- 
pal part of the water I used in malting and brewing, from the 
pond, between '30 and '31; quite a small proportion of it; did 
not get any after '31; not sure that we got any in the spring 
of 1831; In the fall and winter of '30 we got some; and we 
might have got it in the spring of '31, but I am not positive. 
Very likely I have seen Mr. Taylor about his malt-house; no 



118 BEER TRIAL. 

question but that I have seen him; I have frequently seen him 
about the malting season, about the malt-house. 

Mr. Hancock, re-called. — Gross-examined — by defendant's 
counsel : I think I have seen the water of the pond carted to 
the plaintiff's malt-house — wont be positive; I have seen it 
carted to different malt-houses, and I think I have seen it carted 
to Mr. Taylor's; I have seen them letting the water run into his 
malt-house at the north end; I don't know that the water was 
taken from this pond; I thought they might use better water; 
I have seen water taken from the pond, which I supposed was 
going to the malt-houses, which was not bad; I do not say it 
was suitable for malting; it was water that families would use 
for washing; don't know what water is fit for malting; it was 
not fit for drink or food. 

Direct resumed : I have seen water taken from this pond at 
different times; and I have seen them running water into Mr. 
Taylor's malt-house. 

William Amsdale, sworn — Examination direct: I was 
frequently at Fidler and Taylor's malt-house on the hill, from 
1829 up to and including the fall of '34; it was my business to 
see how they went on; I was the brewer; am acquainted with 
that and the business of malting ; within the period mentioned 
I have not seen a great deal of water rode; but I have seen 
water rode there; I have seen this water very clear, and I 
have seen it somewhat riled, probably by the rain. 

Robert Clawson (colored), sworn — Examination direct: 
For about 12 years I have been in the habit of passing the 
pond on Lark street, four or five times a week; I have drawn 
water out of the pond; I moved out to Mr. Van Vechten's 
farm about 12 years ago, and used to pass this pond going back 
and forth; I drew water from it about 10 years ago; at that 
time the water was as clear as you could expect such water as 
that to be; saw no dead animals in the pond — not one; don't 
know whether the water was used for washing. 



BEER TRIAL. 119 

Jonathan Sharp, siuorn. — Examination direct : I guess I 
have known the pond on Lark street 16 or 18 years; have 
drawn water there summer and winter, both; after a heavy 
rain, it would be muddy; I have drawn it for malt-houses and 
to wash with, and for other purposes — making mortar; the 
water looked clear enough, unless after a rain; couldn't say 
that I ever did? see dead animals in the pond; have seen dead 
dogs and hogs, and horses down on the other side of the bank. 

Jonathan Gay, sworn. — Examinatiori direct: Have 
known the big pond about eleven years ; lived within ten rods 
of it part of that time ; there is one spring, where the barrel 
is put into the ground, on the west side of the pond, in the 
bank; there are frequently small springs on the side. Before 
'36, the water in the pond was good ; in the winter, clear and 
clean, and in the spring and fall, except in freshets, when it 
was riley; don't recollect seeing any dead animals in it; plenty 
of them on the other side of the road; have seen plenty of 
horses drink there; up to *35 do not recollect to have seen the 
water green. 

John Anderson, sworn. — Examination direct: Have 
known the pond 30 years ; lived exactly opposite to it on Knox 
street; I think it is all of 10 or 12 years since it began to fill 
up; have often been there; have bathed in it; don't recollect 
any dead animals about it; the water was clear and pure; I 
have used it in my family for washing; don't know that my 
folks ever cooked any thing with it; I know of two springs 
there; helped to sink the barrel for one myself; there was an 
outlet to it; have seen horses drink out of it. 

The Defence resumed. 

William White, sworn. — Examination direct: I am a 

brewer and malster; I am one of those in whose name a suit 

has been brought against Mr. Delavan for this publication. I 

commenced malting and brewing on the hill in the fall of '26; 



120 BEER TRIAL. 

continued up to the spring of '30, when I moved the brewing 
apparatus down, after the brewing season ended, to the dock; 
we continued our malt-house on the hill up to '35. I am a 
brother of John Gr. White, and of the other White sworn in 
this case; we were all in partnership on the hill. I was 
acquainted with the pond on Lark street from '26 to the spring 
of '30; after that I was not so much on the hill* and, of course, 
don't know so much about it. I have seen dead animals in 
the neighborhood of the pond. Have you seen them on the 
banks sloping down towards the pond ? Inclined — yes, sir. 
What kind of animals ? I could not say — a variety of them; 
don't think I could name any particular animal I had ever 
seen there. Could you have seen animals if they had been in 
the water ? I think it never was transparent enough to see 
any thing that was in it, if it was under the water. Do you 
know of malting having been done with water out of that pond, 
in the condition you have described ? Yes, sir, I have done 
it myself. Have you manufactured beer from that water ? 
Yes, and malt too. Was the beer, made of such malt and 
water, marketable, saleable beer ? Yes, sir, we have sold it. 

The Court. — It was marketable, saleable beer ? Yes. Do 
you mean good beer ? Yes. 

The court here took a recess until three o'clock P. M. 

Examination continued. — You stated you had seen this 
water taken from the pond to the plaintiff's malt-house; did 
3'ou see it going into the malt-house ? I have seen carts fre- 
quently putting water in there. Did you see if it went into 
the vessels within? I have seen it go into the steeps; seen 
carts unloading water there frequently. What was going on 
in the malt-house, when this water was going into the steep 
tubs ? They were busy malting when I saw this water rode, I 
believe. Were they making mortar or plaster at that time ? 
No, sir. How frequently have you seen Mr. Taylor about 
there ? I have seen hiin there frequently — not so frequently, 



BEER TRIAL. 121 

though, as I have seen Mr. Fidler. About what time have 
you seen water poured in there ? I could not say the particu- 
lar time; it was during the season of '29 and '30, probably. 
Two or three seasons ? Yes, I would put it at two seasons — 
'29 and '30 — because in the spring of '30 1 moved from the 
hill. 

Dr. Henry Green, sworn. — Examination direct: I have 
resided in the city twelve years, on the 1st of May; am a 
practicing physician; am acquainted with the pond on Lark 
street; whenever I have seen the water there (it is sometimes 
dried up) it has been dirty, filthy water; when low, it was still 
more turbid, and it looked very thick; I recollect once seeing 
a dead hog lying partly on the margin and partly in the water. 

Barent P. Staats, (late Alderman,) sworn. — Examination 
direct : I reside in the city. Have known the pond on Lark 
street since 1814; I don't think it covered over half an acre 
then; I had occasion to pass it frequently from '21 to '32 — a 
considerable portion of that time as Alms-house physician; I 
used to be out there sometimes three times a week; it was a 
dirty pool of water. I have seen dead hogs in it — dead geese; 
it is a goose pond; I have seen boys swimming in it — and I 
have seen geese and ducks ; I have seen twenty or thirty 
geese at a time in it. The wash of the bones thrown out from 
the glue factory would drain off into the pond. Never 
examined it as minutely as I did in '32, (during the cholera,) 
when I was health officer; the neighbors supposed it contri- 
buted to the disease; it was stagnant, filthy water then — in 
fact, has always been; it was in July or August of that year 
that I examined it particularly; I thought that it had a bad 
smell at the time; at that time, I believe, the drain was three 
or four feet above the bottom of the pond, and, if I recollect, 
we ordered it to be lowered. Whenever there was a hard 
shower, and the pond filled up to the drain, it would run off; 

it never could run off except after a shower, for there was no 
11 



122 BEER TRIAL. 

supply above that I could perceive; being lower tlian the hills 
around, which are clay principally, the water that falls runs 
down into it, of course. The principal sources of supply are 
from towards the burying grounds, from Spring street, from 
State street, and the roacl ditch from towards Paul Clark's; 
there may be springs there; I don't say there are not. There 
is a small stream from a little north of the glue-house, where 
the collection of bones is; I examined the creek in '32, near 
Buttermilk falls; I thought it infected then from the slaugh- 
ter-house, which then stood on the Poor-house lot; at that 
time the water was bad; in a dry time the water is stagnant, 
standing in pools. 

The Prosecution Resumed. 

George Apply, swor?i. — Examination direct: I worked 
in Mr. Taylor's malt-house eight or nine months in '33 — from 
September or October to the latter part of April or May; the 
water for malting was got, exclusively, from the well in the 
malt-house; none was carted that season, to my knowledge. 

Sanford Cobb, sworn. — Examination direct : I am 
acquainted with Mr. Delavan. What is he estimated to be 
worth ? I have heard a great many estimates — I should say, 
safely, from 3 to $500,000. 

The testimony, on both sides, here closed, and Mr. Wheaton 
summed up on the part of the defendant, when the court 
adjourned to Saturday, April 25. 

Mr. Beardsley closed the defence to the jury, and Messrs. 
Reynolds and Stevens summed up on the part of the plaintiff. 

The court, at 6 o'clock, took a recess until 7 o'clock P. M. 

The Charge. 
Judge Cushman then addressed the juiy in substance as 
follows : 

This action, gentlemen, is brought for two publications in the Evening 
Journal, in the month of February, 1835. They are alleged by the plaintiS 



BEER TRIAL. 123 

to contain libellous matter, and he comes into court and asks, at your hands, 
a verdict for the injury he may have sustained. I need not go into a defini- 
tion of a libel further, than to say that it consists in publishing or causing 
to be published anything calculated and designed to single out an individual, 
and to present him to the public in a ridiculous or odious light, or which 
imputes to him bad actions, or which tends to diminish his comforts or 
respectability. 

For such a publication an action lies; and the plaintiff is entitled to 
damages without proof of any injury ; the law implying that the act was 
done maliciously, or with intent to injure. 

The law affords to every citizen the free use of the press to publish for the 
information or protection of the public; but it restrains this liberty by 
requiring an adherence to truth ; and without this qualification this liberty 
cannot be exercised with impunity. But if a defendant is called upon to 
answer for any published statement, it is a perfect defence to show that the 
allegations complained of are true. 

The publications in this case set forth, having been proved, the defence 
relied upon is that the published statements are true ; and the proof on both 
sides has been chiefly directed to that point. As regards the libel itself, I 
have looked particularly through it with a view to see what are the sub- 
stantial charges. And here I would remark, that in order to sustain a justi- 
fication of a libel, the party defendant must verify the specific charges he has 
made. If he imputes acts calculated to hold up an individual to public odium, 
it is not enough that he proves upon the plaintiff other acts of a similar charac- 
ter. The identical charge made is the one to which he is confined, and which 
he must sustain substantially. 

In looking through the declaration, I find that these are substantially the 
allegations upon which the suit is founded. That so long as six or seven 
years ago the plaintiff s malt-house was supplied with water from stagnant 
pools, gutters and ditches; often in such a state as to be green on the sur- 
face ; that such water for several seasons was collected and deposited in the 
malt-house for malting; that no attention was ever paid to cleanliness; that 
the water was often taken from puddles in which were dead animals ; that 
when the water was low in the pools, holes were sometimes made in which a 
pail was sunk to get the water of which the malt was made ; and that the 
sides of the pail sometimes came in contact with dead animals in a state of 
putridity; that water was carried to the malt-house which was nearly as 
thick as cream with filth ; that the plaintiff relies on water taken from such 
places occasionally ; that seven hogsheads were used in a steep-tub ; and that 
ten or twelve inches of filth will settle on the bottom from that quantity of 
water. And the declaration sets forth that the defendant meant to charge 
that impure, dirty and filthy water, taken from stagnant pools, gutters and 
ditches, had, for years, been carried to the malt-house of the plaintiff; and 
that he had been guilty of using that water in preparing barley for malt. 

The counsel here called on the court to state to the jury to what extent 
the defendant is bound to go to make out his justification. The defendant 
having charged that water was taken from pools, gutters and ditches, the 
point has been raised whether, if he adduces proof only of water having been 
taken from pools, it is a justification. Gentlemen, it would be a justifica- 
tion, provided the quality of the water, as to foulness, was such as to meet 
fully the description given of it in the publication in question. If the water 
is proved to be of that character, then — whether taken from one pool or two — 
whether from ditches or gutters — would make no difference; because, sub- 
stantially, the entire allegation that is of any importance would be proved. 
So, as regards the hole charged to have been made, it is of no importance 



124 BEER TRIAL. 

whether it was made through the ice or into the ground, particularly as the 
libel does not state which. The minutiae of the description are not material. 
If the allegations made, be all substantially proved, the defence is sustained 
without the proof of immaterial circumstances in the statement. At the 
same time, all the allegations as to the offensive character of the water that 
was used, must be made out by the defendant to sustain his defence. 

It is for you to say, upon the evidence adduced, whether the defendant 
has proved the allegations made in the publications on which the declaration 
is founded. I shall not detain you by canvassing, particularly, the testi- 
mony in relation to the water from the Poor-house creek. It seems from 
the description given of the map, that there are two ravines meeting below 
the bridge. The northern ravine receives the wash of the burying grounds 
principally, and of certain establishments of a character to make the water 
foul. The southern ravine comes from near Wilson's slaughter-house : and 
these two form the junction below the bridge. Of course, as regards any 
evidence of water taken above the bridge in either ravine, (there being no 
communication above, between the waters of the two,) nothing in the one 
could affect the other. The proof is, that the principal part of water taken 
from the creek was taken above the bridge, from the south ravine : some of 
the witnesses took it from below. But where the testimony is confined to 
the taking of the water from the creek, without reference to either branch, 
it will be for you to say, whether the proof of the quality of the water sus- 
tains all the charges made by the defendant in the publications in question, 
as to the degree of its impurity. 

Your attention, then, will be more particularly drawn to the state of what 
is called the big pond or pool. In relation to this, you perceive a very 
marked difference between the evidence on the part of the defendant and 
that on the part of the plaintiff. The defendant's witnesses in regard to the 
condition of that pool and the taking of water there, have been named 
to you, and elaborate and ingenious comments have been made by the coun- 
sel upon this branch of the evidence. 

I, however, deem it proper to recapitulate a portion of the testimony, and 
to make some remarks as to its general character. 

The publication being proved, the defendant calls witnesses for the pur- 
pose of showing that the publication is true, by proof that the water of the 
big pond, as it has been termed, was of the offensive character in every sub- 
stantial particular described in the publications. That point the defendant 
is bound to establish in order to maintain his defence ; and it is for the jury 
to say whether in this he has succeeded. 

The witnesses called have been those who have lived in the neighborhood, 
or in the immediate vicinity of the pond: or who, residing in the city, have 
more or less frequently passed it : and, with greater or less opportunity, 
minutely observed the state of the pool and the drawing of the water. First, 
as regards the character of the water, the defendant has introduce 1 
Coulson, Judge Savage and others — some 16 or IS in all. Mr. Coulson*s tes- 
timony is distinct as to the offensive character of the water. His opportunities 
of observing he has stated to you. He had the glue factory mentioned. He 
described the water as what he called rotten water. In the fall, he said, the 
water in the pool was always bad and in a putrid state in warm weather. 
That during the whole year it was bad. except after showers. That the 
water would get green; and that putrid animals would be floating in it. 
That he has seen dogs and cats and hogs there • and a dead horse on the 
rising ground in the vicinity of it. That is his general description of it. 
Judge Savage states that he was in the habit of riding by this pond for several 
years prior fo 1835. His statement is, that the water was always dirty — never 



BEER TRIAL. 125 

saw it otherwise ; that it was not in a condition to be used for food or drink ; 
and that his horse refused to drink there. That he has seen dead animals 
there — dogs, hogs and cats, as Mr. Coulson had represented; and that he 
had observed this for several years, between 1827 and 1835. That is his 
representation of the condition of the pool. I have no desire to go through 
and state what each witness has said; but substantially each of the wit- 
nesses, Mr. Green, Mr. Middleton, Mr. Hughes, Mr. Wasson, Mr. Fassett, 
Mr. Lansing, Mr. Keith, Mr. Harvey, Mr. Ten Eyck, Mr. Clark, Mr. White 
and Mr. Staats, have stated that they have noticed there the dead animals 
mentioned, such as dogs, cats, hogs, and agree in the general description 
of the character of the water, slightly varying the language. Some describe 
it as stagnant, green, very dirty; others as green and nasty; green and 
filthy. Very impure, always (is Mr. Fassett's) at all seasons. That of Keith 
is, "'nretty bad always. 55 Harvey says, stagnant, dirty. Ten Eyck says, 
there was a good deal of stagnant water in the pool; has seen it very green ; 
has seen dead animals there. Mr. Clark says, yellow, riley and muddy. 
Dr. Green says, dirty and filthy. Dr. Staats says, it was a dirty pool; when 
low, more thick and muddy. These are the general descriptions given by 
the defendant's witnesses of the water in the pool. Added to this you have 
the fact of the construction of Lark street across the ravine; thus, making 
a dam to catch the water that falls, or that comes from the melting of the 
snow during the year. You have heard the position of the ground described, 
and the testimony in relation to the question, whether the pond is supplied 
with springs, of the manner in which it is visited by travelers with their 
teams — by the hogs that were about, of the fact in relation to its being 
the receptacle of the filthy matter above ground washing into it — a deposi- 
tory for dead animals — a place where they were sometimes drowned. As to 
the quantity of water in the pond, the estimates vary. Some say a half acre ; 
others, an acre and a half. Originally, it appears to have been a very deep 
pool ; but subsequently to have filled up until now, it would seem to be en- 
tirely filled. After the street was made, a sewer was formed to carry off 
the water after rising to a certain height. The water passed off there in 
great freshets ; and you have heard the testimony as to its passing off at 
other times. 

The principal witness relied upon by the defendant to prove, particularly, 
the facts charged as to the use of the water, and whose testimony is more 
minute than that of others, is Chas. W. Harvey. You have heard his testi- 
mony fully commented on. It will be for you to say whether he has not 
described the water taken to the malt-house in all the terms mentioned in 
the publications. The particular term (i as thick as cream,' 5 has been pre- 
sented and urged as the language of the libel. It is not precisely that. 
The term cream is used; but the precise language is, 6e nearly as thick as 
cream; 5 ' and that is the language the defendant is bound to meet. The 
representation is, that water was carried to the malt-house nearly as thick 
as cream with fifth. The fact that water of this description was carried 
there, is to be made out in order to sustain the defence. You are then to 
look at the testimony as regards the taking of this water from this pool ; 
(and Harvey testifies as to the fifteen or twenty pools,) and say whether its 
character, as described by Harvey and the other witnesses, presents to your 
minds, substantially, the same character of water as that described in the 
published statement. Harvey states that the water, where he obtained it, 
was at times offensive ; that it made him almost sick; that he obtained it in 
winter and in the fall ; that for three or four years he was thus employed at 
times ; assisting his brother-in-law ; that he went with the wagon to the malt- 
house where it was poured into the tub. Other witnesses state the fact, that 



126 BEER TRIAL. 

water was carried from this pool to the malt-house ; this witness more par- 
ticularly describes the time. Mr. White and some of the plaintiff's witnesses 
testify that this water was taken to the malt-house, and during maltino 1 
season. One of the witnesses states that he ran into the kiln to warm him- 
self while the water was running in. The defendant relies on this testi- 
mony as evidence that water was taken from this pool and other places of 
the description set forth in the paper on which the trial is brought. 

As to the putridity of the animals, the substance of the allegation is, that 
the water was sometimes taken from beside a dead body in a state of 
putridity. Harvey states that after cutting holes in the ice and dipping up 
the water, the animals would be drawn to the hole, and would come pretty 
near getting into his pail; and that when thrust off they would come up 
again. You are to judge whether this would be a natural movement, sup- 
posing the water to contain dead animals ; whether the dipping of ijater 
from a hole in the ice would have a tendency to cause floating matter to be 
attracted to the hole; whether, if floating, the animals were probably in a 
putrid state. These are matters which you will weigh and decide for your- 
selves. 

The plaintiff has called a number of witnesses to show that such is not the 
character of the water; and a larger number, it has been said, have been 
sworn on the part of the plaintiff than on the part of the defendant. The 
number of witnesses, gentlemen, is never to be the governing consideration 
in such a case. You are to look at the character of the witnesses for intelli- 
gence and integrity; how far they may be under the influence of bias or 
interest; the relation in which they stand, and their opportunities of obser- 
vation. Hence the value of an open examination ; that the candor of a 
witness may be noted, the manner in which he testifies, and his willingness 
to tell the whole truth. While, therefore, you are not to lay out of view 
the number of witnesses, you are to look to the circumstances mentioned 
rather than to the number, to decide upon the weight which is to be given 
to the evidence adduced. 

Mr. Howard is called to meet this evidence. He was a co-partner of the 
plaintiff down to '32. You have heard his examination, direct and cross ; 
and it is for you to say what is the bearing of that testimony upon the 
character of the water. His general representation is, that this was water 
that he did not intend to use. His effort was to get other water; and you 
have heard the testimony as to the preparations made with that view; the 
syphon, the arrangement with McNab, the pipes for the collection of rain 
water. He states that there was some water drawn in '23 from a distance. 
He, however, testifies that he did not know of any water being drawn from 
this pool. The most he has said that would indicate that he understood it 
to be so, is, that he had heard that some trifle had been brought, but did 
not know it to be the fact. Ward's testimony is a general negative, as 
regards his knowledge of, or direction concerning, getting water from the 
pool. The testimony of Mr. Helse, Mr. Lowe, Mr. Watson, Mr. Rull, Mr. 
Hancock, Mr. Scace, Mr. Toomay, Mr. Hood, Mr. Shufelt, Mr. Couchman, 
Mr. White, Mr. Haswell, Mr. Hilton, Mr. Clawson, Mr. Sharp, Mr. Bradt, 
Mr. Waugh, and Mr. Anderson, has been adduced, principally bearing on 
this subject. These, with three or four exceptions, state that they have had 
opportunities of observing, (some of them having lived just in the vicinity,) 
and affirm, generally, that they have never seen any dead animals in the 
pond. Scace says he has seen dead hogs there ; others have seen none. Mr. 
White, I think, states that he has seen them there. Some of them state 
that they have drank the water ; one or two state they have used the water* 

Plaintiff's counsel insisted that there were five. 



BEER TRIAL. 127 

The Court. — I mean for family use. There are not five that state they 
used it, except for washing. 

Plaintiff's counsel named five or six. 

The Court. — I do not find it so on my minutes. I have condensed the 
testimony to ascertain the facts as regards the general character of the 
water. You, gentlemen, will recall and scrutinize the testimony given, and 
regard the opportunities of the witnesses for observation, and their descrip- 
tions of the water. One of them, Mr. Scace, spoke of it as pretty good water 
in the spring and fall; and several of them, as clear; especially in the 
spring. Several say they would not use it, except in case of extremity. 
Others say they have seen it taken away in a tea-kettle, and in pails, and 
for washing. Several have taken it for washing. Cattle drink there; and 
travelers very frequently drive in to water. Now, gentlemen, you are to 
take all this testimony, give it its full weight and consideration, and exer- 
cise your own good sense in relation to it. 

There is also the further evidence of several witnesses who swear there 
are springs there. One speaks of three, others of two; some speak of them 
as living springs. Others say there was water enough flowing from one 
spring to fill an inch bore. Some testify that barrels were sunk there. One 
witness places it as high on the bank as ten feet above the surface of the pond. 
The pond is described as having a bottom of clay. You are to say, looking 
at all the testimony as to the condition of the pond in drought and in freshet, 
whether the water was supplied by springs in whole or in part during the 
period when used ; or whether by the water that falls. For if the pool was 
supplied by springs, and water was constantly running from it, the quality 
of the water would be very different from what it would be in the other case. 
The witnesses testify that in dry weather the water in the pond falls below the 
drain. More of the plaintiff' s witnesses speak of the continuance of the flow 
of water, and of the supply from the ravines, than of those on the other side. 
You are to ascertain the character of the water from the testimony, whether 
supplied from springs below or from water above ground. If the water con- 
tained the bodies of dead animals, left there to decompose, you are to judge 
what effect it would have upon its quality, either standing or running off. 
And you must find it to be of the character set forth in the libel to sustain 
the defence. 

The testimony of Harvey, (who states the strong points as to the charac- 
ter of the water on which the defendant relies,) the plaintiff says should not 
be credited. The testimony insisted on as discrediting Harvey, is that of 
Mr. Ryckman and Dr. Hinckley; and Judge C. here went into an examina- 
tion and comparison of the testimony of these witnesses and that of Dr. 
Harvey ; pointing out wherein they differed or appeared to differ — leaving 
it to the jury to say what weight was to be given to the testimony of the 
latter in view of the fact that he was corroborated as to many of the main 
facts to which he testified by other witnesses, who must be discredited if 
he was. 

As to the point whether the plaintiff was cognizant of the fact, that water 
of the description charged, was used at his brewery in malting ; the Judge 
charged that the allegation, substantially, was, that the plaintiff, by him- 
self or his agent, used such water in making malt; and that the defendant 
must show enough to prove the plaintiff cognizant of the fact that it was so 
used. It is not necessary (said the Judge) to prove that he saw the water 
put there, or directed it to be put there. You are to have testimony that 
satisfies you that the plaintiff knew that this water was used in malting. 
You are to look to the fact of the plaintiff's presence there, and his oppor- 
tunities of knowing what was going on. It appears that the plaintiff was 



128 



BEER TRIAL. 



not as much at the malt-house as his partner. Mr. Coulson says he had seen 
him about the malt-house ; Mr. White had seen him there ; and Mr. Couch - 
man had seen him there, he thinks, oftener than his partner, Mr. Fidler. 
This is the testimony relied upon by the defendant to satisfy you that the 
plaintiff knew what quality of water was used in preparing malt, and whence 
it was procured. 

The plaintiff also urges that the fact is undeniable, that pure air and pure 
water are indispensable in making good malt as well as good beer ; and that 
this should be regarded in weighing the evidence as to the fact of the use of 
foul water and of his knowledge of it. You have heard the testimony on this 
point and the comments upon it. The witnesses on the part of the plaintiff, 
with one exception upon this point, have testified that pure water and pure 
air are indispensable. One of the witnesses, Mr. White, used it to make 
malt and beer from the necessity of the case. From the evidence the plain- 
tiff urges the improbability of the use of foul water with his knowledge, as 
the effect would be to injure his malt. 

The testimony, gentlemen, is too voluminous to justify me in going through 
it all with minuteness ; and the hour admonishes me that I should bring my 
remarks to a close. The question for you to decide is one of fact; and you 
are carefully to weigh and compare all the evidence when you retire to 
deliberate. The plaintiff alleges that the publications in question are calcu- 
lated to do him great injury. The proof is, that the defendant is a man of 
large wealth. These are facts proper to be urged in reference to the amount 
of damages to be given by your verdict. It is also the rule, when the defen- 
dant in pleading, gives notice that he will justify the libel by showing it to 
he true ; that this recharging the libel, if the defence fails, is an aggrava- 
tion of the injury, and a ground for giving enhanced damages. 

In every libellous publication the law implies that it was done with malice ; 
and the plaintiff is not bound to show an injury in fact sustained, to entitle 
him to a recovery of damages. A reiteration of the libel in these pleadings 
if the defence fails, is a deliberate repetition of the injury, and justifies the 
claim for a greater amouut in damages. 

Upon the whole proof, you, gentlemen, are to say whether the defence has 
been made out. If you are satisfied that it has, then the defendant will be 
entitled to your verdict; for any citizen is at liberty to publish truth, 
although it may injuriously affect his neighbor; and especially should this 
right be sustained, when the facts published, if true, ought to be known to 
the community at large. If the facts published are proved true, the law 
presumes the motive good. If these publications are false, a deep injury 
has been inflicted upon the plaintiff in his business and his character ; and 
the pecuniary situation of the defendant should be taken into consideration 
in deciding upon the amount of your verdict. 

In view of all the testimony in this case, you will make up your verdict; 
and I am persuaded that in coming to the result you will be guided by the 
single purpose of awarding justice between these parties. 

The jury retired at 9 o'clock P. M. ; and after a consultation of about an 
hour agreed upon a verdict, which (under the previous direction of the 
court) was sealed up, and handed in on Monday. The verdict was FOR THE 
DEFENDANT, WITH COSTS. 



No. 9. 

♦-♦ 

LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT 

OF THE 

WOMAN'S NATIONAL COVENANT. 



South Ballston, May, 1864. 

To Mrs. General James Taylor, 

President of the Woman's National Covenant, 

Washington, D. C. 

Madam : The whole country is responding to the patriotic design 
in forming the " Woman's National Covenant." In your admirable 
address, as president of the national organization, you state that in 
1770, ladies occupying the highest social position signed a pledge to 
abstain from tea, as an example, and from patriotism. The present 
movement is more particularly confined to dress. Could the " Wo- 
man's National Covenant" now step forth on the platform of entire 
abstinence from all that can intoxicate, and add it to its pledge, and 
recommend to all classes of both sexes to adopt and practice it, can 
there be any doubt that a vast number would comply, and that mani- 
fest benefits to them and the country would result, in an economical, 
moral and religious point of view ? 

My especial object in addressing you is to call your attention to 
some extracts, given below, from an address of the Rt. Rev'd Alonzo 
Potter, D. D., LL. D., Bishop of Pennsylvania, as applicable to the 
question to which I have taken the liberty to call your attention; the 
perusal of which may influence your mind to consider this subject, 
and perhaps lead you to the decision that it may be a a act of high 
Christian duty as well as lofty patriotism in pledging to abstain from 



130 woman's national covenant. 

all alcoholic drinks, whether pure or adulterated, imported or domes- 
tic, and by precept and example, kindly urging all others to do the 
same. 

I remain, Madam, with great respect, 
Your obedient serv't, 

EDWARD C. DELAY AN. 
P. S. — The chapter on Charitt, by the great English poet, Cow- 
peil, in which he treats of the World's Commerce, is deeply interest- 
ing and instructive. (See extract at the close.) 



ON THE DRINKING USAGES OF SOCIETY. 

By A^onzo Potter, D. D., LL. D., Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. 

"But what is the cause of moderate or temperate drinking? Is 
it the force of natural appetite ? No. Nine-tenths of those who use 
alcoholic stimulants, do it, in the first instance, and often for a long 
time, not from appetite, but from deference to custom or fashion. 
Usage has associated intoxicating drinks with good fellowship — with 
offices of hospitality and friendship. However false and dangerous 
such an association may be, it is not surprising that, when once esta- 
blished, it continually gathers strength; with some through engen- 
dered appetite, with others through sordid interest. It is in this way 
that drinking usagej have become incorporated with every pursuit in 
life, with the tastes and habits of every grade and class. In the din- 
ing room of the . affluent, in the public room of the hotel, in every 
place of refreshment, in the social gatherings of the poor, in the 
harvest field and in the workshop, alcoholic liquor was at one time 
deemed essential. Too often it is deemed so still. Many a host anc. 
employer, many a young companion, shrinks even now from the idea 
of exchanging the kind offices of life without the aid of intoxicating 
liquors, as he would shrink from some sore offence against taste and 
propriety. Not to put the cup to your neighbor's lip is, in one word, 
to sin against that most absolute of earthly sovereigns, Fashion. 

Here, then, lies the gist of the whole difficulty. Fashion propa- 
gates itself downward. Established and upheld by the more refined 
and opulent, it is soon caught up by those in less conspicuous walks. 
It thus spreads itself over the whole face of society, and, becoming 



woman's national covenant. 131 

allied with other principles, is planted deep in the habits and associ- 
ations of a people. It is pre-eminently so with drinking- usages. 
Immemorial custom; the example of those whose education or position 
gives them a commanding sway over the opinions of others ; appetite 
with them who have drunk till what was once but compliance with 
usage is now an imperious craving ; the interest of many who thrive 
by the traffic in intoxicating drinks, or by the follies into which they 
betray men — here are causes which so fortify and strengthen our 
drinking usages, that they seem to defy all change. But let us not 
despair. We address those who are willing to think, and are accus- 
tomed to bring every question to the stern test of utility and duty. 
To these, then, we appeal. 

Drinking usages are the chief cause of intemperance; and these de- 
rive their force and authority, in the first instance, wholly from those 
who give law to fashion. Let this be considered. Do you ask for 
the treacherous guide, who, with winning smiles and honied accents, 
leads men forward from one degree of indulgence to another, till they 
are besotted and lost ? Seek him not in the purlieus of the low grog- 
shop; seek him not in any scenes of coarse and vulgar revelry. He 
is to be found where they meet who are the observed of all observers. 
There, in the abodes of the rich and admired; there, amidst all the 
enchantments of luxury and elegance; where friend pledges friend; 
where wine is invoked to lend new animation to gaiety, and impart 
new brilliancy to wit; in the sparkling glass, which is raised even by 
the hand of beautiful and lovely women, — there is the most danger- 
ous decoy. Can that be unsafe which is thus associated with all that 
is fair and graceful in woman, with all that is attractive and bril- 
liant in man ? Must not that be proper which has the deliberate and 
time-honored sanction of those who stand before the world as the 
'glass of fashion/ and c rose of the fair state ?' 

Thus reason the great proportion of men. They are looking con- 
tinually to those who, in their estimation, are more, favored of for- 
tune, or more accomplished in mind and manners than themselves. 
We do not regulate our watches more carefully or more universally 
by the town-clock, than do nine tenths of mankind take their tone 
from the residue who occupy places towards which 'all are struggling. 

Let the responsibility of these drinking usages be put, then, where 



132 woman's national covenant. 

it justly belongs. When you visit, on some errand of mercy, the 
abodes of the poor and afflicted; when you look in on some home 
which has been made dark by drunkenness, where hearts are desolate 
and hearths are cold; where want is breaking in as an armed man; 
where the wife is heart-broken or debased, and children are fast be- 
coming demoralized, — friends ! would you connect effect with cause, 
and trace this hideous monster back to its true parent, let your 
thoughts fly away to some abode of wealth and refinement where 
conviviality reigns ; where, amidst j oyous greetings and friendly pro- 
testations, and merry shouts, the flowing bowl goes round, and there 
you will see that which is sure to make drinking everywhere attract- 
ive, and cannot fail to make drunkenness common. 

Would we settle our account, then, with the drinking usages of the 
refined and respectable ? We must hold them answerable for main- 
taining corresponding usages in other classes of society; and we must 
hold them answerable, further, for the frightful amount of intemper- 
ance which results from those usages. We must hold them account- 
able for all the sin, and all the unhappiness, and all the pinching 
poverty, and all the nefarious crimes to which intemperance gives 
rise. So long as these usages maintain their place among the respect- 
able, so long will drinking and drunkenness abound through all grades 
and conditions of life. Neither the power of Law aimed at the Traffic 
in liquors, nor the force of Argument addressed to the understandings 
and consciences of the many, will ever prevail to cast out the fiend 
Drunkenness, so long as they who are esteemed the favored few, 
uphold with unyielding hand, the practice of drinking. 

Hence the question, whether this monster evil shall be abated, re- 
solves itself a. ways into another question. Will the educated, the 
wealthy, the respectable, persist in sustaining the usages which pro- 
duce itl Let them resolve that these usages shall no longer have their 
countenance, and their insidious power is broken. Let them resolve 
that, wherever they go, the empty wine glass shall proclaim their 
silent protest; and Fashion, which now commands us to drink, shall 
soon command us with all potential voice, to abstain. 

When Paul appeared before the licentious Felix, he reasoned with 
him on Temperance. It is the only appeal I desire to make. I might 
invoke your passions or your prejudices; but they are unworthy in- 



woman's national covenant. 133 

struments, which he will be slow to use who respects himself; and 
they are instruments which generally recoil with violence on the man 
that employs them. There is enough in this cause to approve itself to 
the highest reason and to the most upright conscience. Let us not be 
weary, then, in calling them to our aid. If we are earnest, and yet 
patient; if we speak the truth in love, and yet speak it with all per- 
severance and faithfulness, it must at length prevail. But few years 
have passed since.some of us who are now ardent in this good work, 
were as ignorant or sceptical as those we are most anxious to convince. 
We then thought ourselves conscientious in our doubts, or even in our 
opposition. Let our charity be broad enough to concede to those who 
are not yet with us, the same generous construction of motives which 
we then claimed for ourselves. And let us resolve that, if this noble 
cause be not advanced, it shall be through no fault of ours ; that our 
zeal and our discretion shall go hand in hand ; and that fervent prayer 
to God shall join with stern and indomitable effort to secure for it a 
triumph alike peaceful and permanent. 

It was a glorious consciousness which enabled St. Paul, when about 
to take leave of those amongst whom he had gone preaching the king- 
dom of God, to say, " I take you to record this day, that I am pure 
from the blood of all men." May this consciousness be ours, in re- 
spect, at least, to the drunkards! May not one drop of the blood of 
their ruined souls be found at last spotting our garments ! Are we 
ministers of Christ ? Are we servants and followers of Him who 
taught that it is more blessed to give than to receive ? Let us see to 
it that no blood-guiltiness attaches to us here. We can take a course 
which will embolden us to challenge the closest inspection of our 
influence; which will enable us to enter without fear, on this ground 
at least, the presence of our Judge. May no false scruples, then, no 
c fear of man which bringeth a snare,' no spirit of self-indulgence, no 
unreasoning prejudice, deter us from doing that over which we cannot 
fail to rejoice when we come to stand before the Son of Man !" 



12 



134 woman's national covenant. 



WESTMINSTER REVIEW, LONDON, ETC. 

This influential Review, in 1855, defended the moderate use of al- 
cohol in health, as necessary, indeed, as food for the body. Prof. You- 
mans, and others, of the United States, and learned writers in Great 
Britain, exposed the fallacy of this position. 

Now, in 1860, this same Journal magnanimously acknowledges 
that recent scientific French investigators of the highest rank, have 
exploded this doctrine, asserting that alcohol is a peison, and always 
pernicious as a beverage, in health. By the use of alcohol, they say, 
' ' The pathological alterations are very vivid inflammation of the mu- 
cous membrane of the stomach." 

" Very lately, 55 says Dr. James McCulloch, of Scotland, " Messrs* 
Lallemand, Perrin and Duroy, in France, and Dr. Edward Smith, 
LL. D., F. R. S., in London, have published a number of carefully 
conducted experiments, and most important discoveries, proving 
that alcohol undergoes no change in the body, it being expelled un- 
changed by the lungs, skin and kidneys ; 55 and that, in the words 
of Dr. Smith, " it should be prescribed medicinally as carefully as any 
other poisonous agent." 

The British Medical Journal, lately, in a leader, appears willing 
to accept the improved scientific status quo as touching alcohol. It 
says, " The subject of the use of alcohol is daily becoming one of 
more importance. The question of its influence on the body in 
health is being daily canvassed by the chemist and physiologist; 
and, as far as their lights reach, it would seem that not only is 
alcohol not of service to the body, but is actually injurious. 55 

" That alcohol is poison, is an admitted fact. 55 — Rev. Dr. E. Nott, 
President of Union College. 

That alcohol, whether found in rum, brandy or wine, is "poison, 55 
is conceded on all hands. It is classed among poisons, because, 
says a learned writer, it is one of " those substances which are 
known by physicians as capable of altering or destroying, in a ma- 
jority of cases, some of the functions necessary to life. 55 — Dr. Ro- 
meyn Beck's Medical Jurisprudence. 

The ancient Greeks, instead of saying "the man is drunk, 55 were 
in the habit of saying " the man is poisoned. 55 Our word intoxica- 
tion is derived from the Greek word toxicon, which signifies poison. 
That eminent French physician, Broussais, about fifty years since 
discovered that, by the use of alcoholic wine, a diseased state of the 
stomach was produced. The late eminent physician, Dr. Sewall,of 
Washington, after deep study and numerous dissections, prepared a 
drawing of the moderate drinker's stomach, showing conclusively 
that such drinking brought on an incipient disease of the stomach, 
and if continued would induce diseases of various kinds, and ulti 
mately, in many cases, death by delirium tremens. Those celebrated 



woman's national covenant. 135 

anatomists, Drs. Warren, Mott and Horner, of this country, at the 
time sustained Dr. Sewall in his position; God, the highest of all 
authorities, says C( wine (intoxicating) wine is a mocker," not much, 
or little, but, "it is a mocker." No one can drink this mocker in 
health without being mocked by it, in the degree he permits himself 
to use it. The London Times says wine (alluding to weak French 
wine) is less poisonous than gin. 

REV. DR. E. NOTT, LL. D. (President of Union College), 
ON THE ADULTERATION OF LIQUORS. 

"Wine indeed, 'falsely so called,' we have in abundance, but 
names do not alter the nature of things. The extract of logwood is 
not less the extract of logwood, nor is the sugar of lead less the 
sugar of lead, because combined with New England rum, Western 
whisky, sour beer, or even Newark cider, put up in wine casks, 
stamped Port, Champagne or Madeira, and sold under the imposing 
sanction of the collector's purchased certificate, passed from hand to 
hand, and perhaps transmitted from father to son, to give the color 
of honesty to cool, calculating, heartless imposition. 

"0! it was not from the vineyards of any distant grape-bearing 
country, that those disguised poisons, sent abroad to corrupt and 
curse the country, were derived. On the contrary, the ingredients 
of which they are composed were collected and mingled, and their 
color and flavor imparted, in some of those garrets above, or caverns 
beneath, the observation of men; caverns fitly called ; hells,' where, 
in our larger cities, fraud undisguised finds protection, and whole- 
sale deeds of darkness are securely and systematically performed. 

c( I do not say this on my own authority. I had a friend who had 
been himself a wine dealer; and having read the startling statements 
made in public in relation to the brewing of wines and the adultera- 
tion of liquors generally, I inquired of that friend as to the verity of 
those statements. His reply was: ' God forgive what has passed 
in my owx cellar, but the statements made are true, true, I 
assure you.' 

" That friend has since gone to his last account, as have doubtless 
many of those whose days on earth were shortened by the poisons 
he dispensed. But I still remember, and shall long remember, both 
the terms and tone of that laconic answer. 

cc Another friend informed me that the executor of a wine dealer, 
in a city named, assured him that in the inventory of articles for the 
manufacture of wine found in the cellar of that dealer, and the value 
of which amounted to many thousand dollars, there was not one 
dollar for the juice of the grape! And still another friend informed 
me, that in examining, as an assignee, the papers of a house in that 
city which dealt in wines, and which had stopped payment, he found 
evidence of the purchase during the preceding year, of hundreds of 



136 woman's national covenant. 

casks of cider, but none of wine. And yet it was not cider, but 
c wine, 5 which had been supposed to have been dealt out by that 
house to its confiding customers." 

Since the foregoing was forwarded to the printer, I have received the 
N. Y. Observer of June 2d. I make the following extract : 

" The Ladies' Covenant. — A friend in Boston sends me a letter 
by Mr. Everett to Mrs. Quincy, in which the eloquent orator encour- 
ages the ladies to go onward with their retrenchment and economy, 
that they may be able to do more for the country. My Boston friend 
begs me to say a few words to help on the movement. Others have 
asked me how to discriminate between foreign and domestic goods; 
and this leads me to the only point worth coming to : and that is the 
duty of avoiding extravagance. Mr. Everett hits the nail on the head 
when he says : 

c A reform is needed, on the part of both sexes, and in many things 
besides foreign luxury. Extravagance in the general style of living, 
in building, furniture, equipage, entertainment, amusements, hotels, 
watering places, — extravagance often as tasteless as it is otherwise 
reprehensible, — is growing upon us, and consuming, worse than unpro- 
ductively, the substance of the country. The waste at a fashionable 
private entertainment would support three or four men in the ranks 
of the army for a twelvemonth , and provide for the relief and comfort 
of a hundred wounded soldiers in a hospital.' The Observer states: 

" This is the doctrine. It is of little account for the women to re- 
trench unless the men hold up, and vice versa. It is of little account 
to economize in foreign goods and waste money on domestic; and 
vice versa. Dress is not the only or chief matter about which we are 
to be frugal now. It is wise and patriotic to husband all our re- 
sources, and bring what we have, and what we can save, and lay ic 
on the altar of God and the country." 

Permit me to add: the patriotic ladies who have organized the 
"National Covenant." have set a ball in motion, which, I hope 
and believe, will roll on for good, until its influence shall be felt in 
every family, and by every individual having responsibility, whether 
in the dwellings of the lowly or wealthy, and until a judicious eco- 
nomy is adopted by all classes, by which alone, as I fear, can the 
national honor in its credit be finally established and repudiation pre- 
vented. The war ended, the Union restored, we shall soon have a 
population of thirty-five millions of people. 

One cent saved a day by each in retrenchment amounts in 

a year to $124,750,000 

Two cents do do do 249,500,000 

Three cents do do do 374,250,000 

Four cents do do do 499,000,000 

Five cents do do do 623,750,000 

E. CD. 



woman's national covenant. 137 



EXTRACT FROM COWPER'S ESSAY ON CHARITY. 

(e Again — the band of commerce was design'd 
T' associate all the branches of mankind; 
And if a boundless plenty be the robe, 
Trade is the golden girdle of the globe. 
Wise to promote whatever end he means, 
God opens fruitful nature's various scenes : 
Each climate needs what other climes produce, 
And offers something to the gen'ral use ; 
No land but listens to the common call, 
And in return receives supply* from all. 
This genial intercourse, and mutual aid, 
Cheers what were else a universal shade, 
Calls nature from her ivy-mantled den, 
And softens human rock-work into men. 
Ingenious Art, with her expressive face, 
Steps forth to fashion and refine the race ; 
Not only fills necessity's demand, 
But overcharges her capacious hand : 
Capricious taste itself can crave no more 
Than the supplies from her abounding store : 
She strikes out all that luxury can ask, 
And gains new vigour at her endless task. 
Her's is the spacious arch, the shapely spire, 
The painter's pencil, and the poet's lyre; 
From her the canvass borrows light and shade, 
And verse, more lasting, hues that never fade. 
She guides the finger o'er the dancing keys, 
And gives difficulty all the grace of ease, 
And pours a torrent of sweet notes around, 
Fast as the thirsting ear can drink the sound. 

These are the gifts of Art, and Art thrives most 
Where Commerce has enriched the busy coast. 
He catches all improvements in his flight, 
Spreads foreign wonders in his country's sight. 
Imports what others have invented well, 
And stirs his own to match them, or excel. 
>Tis thus reciprocating, each with each, 
Alternately the nations learn and teach; 
While Providence enjoins to ev'ry soul 
A union with the vast terraqueous whole. 

Heav'n speed the canvass, gallantly unfurl'd 
To furnish and accommodate a world, 
To give the pole the produce of the sun, 
And knit th' unsocial climates into one. — 
Soft airs and gentle heavings of the wave 
Impel the fleet, whose errand is to save, 
To succour wasted regions, and replace 
The smile of Opulence in Sorrow's face. — 
Let nothing adverse, nothing unforseen, 
Impede the bark, that ploughs the deep serene, 
Charg'd with a freight, transcending in its worth 
The gems of India, Nature's rarest birth, 



138 woman's national covenant. 

That flies, like Gabriel on his Lord's commands, 

A herald of God's love to pagan lands.* 

But ah ! what wish can prosper, or what pray'r, 

For merchants rich in cargoes of despair, 

Who drive a loathsome tramck, gauge, and span, 

And buy the muscles and the bones of man? 

The tender ties of father, husband, friend, 

All bonds of nature in that moment end ; 

And each endures, while yet he draws his breath, 

A stroke as fatal as the scythe of death. 

The sable warrior, frantick with regret 

Of her he loves, and never can forget, 

Loses in tears the far-receding shore, 

But not the thought, that they must meet no more; 

Deprived of her and freedom at a blow, 

What has he left, that he can yet forego? 

Yes, to deep sadness sullenly resign'd, 

He feels his body's bondage in his mind; 

Puts off his gen'rous nature; and, to suit 

His manners with his fate, puts on the brute. 

most degrading of all ills, that wait 
On man, a mourner in his best estate ! 
All other sorrows Virtue may endure, 
And find submission more than half a cure. 
Grief is itself a med'cine, and bestow'd 
T' improve the fortitude that bears the load, 
To teach the wand-rer as his woes increase, 
The path of Wisdom, all whose paths are peace ; 
But slav'ry ! — Virtue dreads it as her grave : 
Patience itself is meanness in a slave ; 
Or if the will and sov'reignty of God 
Bid suffer it awhile, and kiss the rod, 
Wait for the dawning of a brighter day, 
And snap the chain the moment when you may. 
Nature imprints upon whate'er we see, 
That has a heart and life in it, Be free : 
The beasts are charter'd — neither age nor force 
Can quell the love of freedom in a horse : 

♦The " Ladies Covenant" pledge against the use of foreign productions of certain 
descriptions and under certain circumstances. — Foreign nations exchange their com- 
modities for ours, and the exchange is for mutual benefit; let our retrenchments be 
dictated by the most expansive benevolence, let us consider also the nations of the 
earth as belonging to one great community, and mutually dependent on each other. 
The laborers abroad (they are our friends and deeply sympathise with us in our 
present gigantic struggle,) toil at the loom, the forge, and bobbin, to prepare for us 
those commodities we want and they can make cheaper than we can, and let us in 
return pay them in our surplus of food, &c, &c, which we can produce cheaper than 
they can. 

Should foreign nations combine against us, and agree to look elsewhere for our 
surplus food, what would be the consequence? that surplus would be almost without 
value, and so reduce the price of what would be needed for our own wants, that labor 
would not be rewarded, and universal stagnation, and panic would pervade the 
country, until time could remedy the evil, by an entire change in the application of 
labor. Let us put our faces like a flint, against all use of every article whether 
foreign or domestic injurious in itself, and without distinction between foreign and 
domestic, retrench in every proper way to meet the necessities of our country^ now 
in its day of trial, and great peril. 



woman's national covenant. 139 

He breaks the cord, that held him at the rack; 
And conscious of an unencumber'd back, 
Snuffs up the morning air, forgets the rein; 
Loose fly his forelock and his ample mane •, 
E-esponsive to the distant neigh he neighs; 
Nor stops till, overleaping all delays, 
He finds the pasture where his fellows graze. 

Canst thou and honour'd with a Christian name, 
Buy what is woman born, and feel no shame ; 
Trade in the blood of innocence, and plead 
Expedience as a warrant for the deed? 
So may the wolf, whom famine has made bold 
To quit the forest and invade the fold : 
So may the ruffian, who with ghostly glide, 
Dagger in hand steals close to your bedside; 
Not he, but his emergence, forc'd the door, 
He found it inconvenient to be poor. 
Has. G-od then giv'n its sweetness to the cane, 
Unless his laws be trampled on — in vain? 
Built a brave world, which cannot yet subsist, 
Unless his right to rule it be dismiss'd? 
Impudent blasphemy ! So Folly pleads, 
And Av'rice being judge, with ease succeeds. n * 

*The traffic in intoxicating drink, as a beverage, always has been, and still maybe, 
more disastrous to the human family in its wide spread influences end results, than 
the slave trade or slavery. The Rum Dealer not onlyfcolds the body of his victim in 
cruel bondage, but crushes out his heart — Slavery chains the body, but leaves the 
gates of Heaven vfiJe open for the soul of the slave to enter — even tho' his body is 
striped all overj tsy tfc» thonged lash of his task-master. 



COMPARISON 

BETWEEN THE 

DANGERS ARISING FROM RAIL ROAD TRAVEL 
AND THE LIQUOR TRADE, ETC., ETC. 



The English railways in 1863 covered 8,568 miles of rails 
and conveyed nearly a hundred and seventy-four millions of 
passengers, besides an enormous quantity of coal, cattle, &c. 
The money paid bv passengers was £12,262,416; for goods 
traffic, £13,950,406— a total of £26,212,822. But in the 
same period the English people (assigning to them two-thirds 
of the expenditure of the United Kingdom) paid for intoxi- 
cating liquors upwards of fifty millions sterling — twice as 
much as the total receipts of all the railway companies — and 
then did a far more foolish thing by swallowing what they had 
paid for! Taking the railway system of the United Kingdom, 
it appears that upwards of two hundred million fares were 
paid by travelers in 1863 (of course the same persons often 
paying several fares), and yet only one person was killed in 
every six million of these journeys, and of these fatalities only 
one in every fifteen million journeys was caused other than by 
the fault of the traveler. There was one accident to every 
five hundred thousand personal journeys. If, as Mr. Buxton 
calculates, there are half a million drunkards in the United 
Kingdom out of a population, exclusive of young children, of 
fifteen millions, and if the losses by death (say three per 
cent) are made up by those who pass from the class of mode- 
rate drinkers into drunkards, a comparison of the risks incurred 
by railway traveling and by drinking will be instructive. The 
risk of being killed on a railway is as 1 to 6,000,000 journeys, 
and of being injured as 1 to 500,000 journeys; but the annual 
risk of becoming a drunkard in any given year is six thousand 
times greater than of being killed on a railway, and five hund- 
red times greater than of being injured on the same in cases 
of conveyance. 



jSTo. lO. 



TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 



To the Eev. Dr. E. Nott, LL. D., 

President Union College, Schenectady, U. S. A. 

Pakis, May 1st, 1860. 

My Dear Sir : Since I last wrote you, I have had an in- 
teresting interview with Cardinal Wiseman, in Rome. I 
found him entirely posted up with regard to the adultera- 
tions of liquors, and the baneful influences they were exert- 
ing on the world, especially the laboring classes, and he 
approved a plan, which, if sanctioned by the Roman Catholic 
bishops in America, he said he would second at the Vatican. 
Other ecclesiastics in Rome, of high station, have promised 
to aid the measure also. 

You will perceive by the English press, that the Chancel- 
lor of the Exchequer is making an effort to introduce weak, 
cheap wine into England, at a low duty, and then fill the 
land with additional licensed places to sell it, and this as a 
temperance measure. The total abstainers, as well as many 
others, are up in arms to prevent this, and they are bringing 
up their arguments and statistics to prove that, in their 
opinion, in place of being a " temperance measure," it will 
increase intemperance to a frightful extent. 

The same idea prevails in England, as iu many minds in 
the United States, that by the introduction of cheap and 
weak wines, intemperance would by degrees die out. Noth- 
ing, in my opinion, can be more delusive ; let the love of 
weak wine be established, then it will not satisfy, stronger 
will soon take the place of the weak, and then ardent spir- 
its will follow as a matter of course. 

On thorough examination, facts and arguments have es- 
tablished the truth, that all use of alcohol as a beverage, 
whether in large or small quantities, is opposed to health 
and life : the question is only one of degree. 



142 TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 

Cardinal Wiseman, in writing on the subject, remarks : — 

"Though compared with other nations, the Italians can- 
not be considered as unsober, and the lightness of their or- 
dinary wines does not so easily produce lightness of head 
as heavier potations ; they are fond of the osteria and the 
bet-tola, in which they sit and sip for hours, encouraged by 
the very sobriety of their drinks. There, time is lost, and 
evil conversation exchanged ; there stupid discussions are 
raised, whence spring noisy brawls, the jar of which kindles 
fierce passions, and sometimes deadly hate. Occasionally 
even worse ensues. From the tongue sharpened as a sword, 
the inward fury flies to the sharper steel lurking in the vest 
or the legging ; and the body pierced by a fatal wound, 
stretched on the threshold of the hostelry, proves the deadly 
violence to which a quarrel over cups may lead." 

This statement of the Cardinal coincides with my exami- 
nations, and the experience of thirty years. Science and 
the Bible fully sustain the same great doctrine. Science 
and the Bible, when rightly understood (the Author of both 
being the same), are always in harmony. If the Bible 
sanctions the use of alcohol, or intoxicating drinks, as a bev- 
erage in health, then there should be an end of the movement 
in favor of total abstinence as a duty ; but I believe, and 
think you are of the same opinion, that the Bible throughout, 
is a total abstinence book, as far as intoxicating drinks are 
concerned as a beverage in health. If this view of the 
scriptural doctrine of temperance is true, is it not time that 
the Church of Christ should be governed by it ? If not true, 
let the error be exposed, and the moderate use of alcohol, 
• as a common beverage, be henceforth considered true tem- 
perance by true temperance men. 

Rev. Sydney Smith declared : — " If you wish to keep your 
mind or body healthy, abstain from all fermented liquors." 

Sir Henry Holland (his son-in-law) says: — "All men 
should, for health's sake, make at least one fair trial of 
abandoning the use of wine and all intoxicating drinks." 

Lord Acton, while Supreme Judge of Rome (afterwards 
Cardinal), stated in a letter addressed to me on the subject : 
" I beg leave to state my opinion upon the proportion of 
crimes which in this country maybe traced, for their origin, 
either to the immoderate use of wine, or to the too great 



TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 143 

frequenting of public houses. I think I may fairly record 
one-third under this head." 

Lord Bacon wrote : — " Of all things known to mortals, 
wine is the most powerful and effectual for exciting and 
inflaming the passions of mankind, being common fuel to 
them all." Of course Lord Bacon doubtless alluded to bad 
wine — wine " the mocker" — not the wine of the cluster, the 
press, and the vat ; and before " the mocker " had been 
formed by fermentation. 

Milton asks — " What more foul and common sin among 
us than drunkenness ? and who can be ignorant that, if the 
importation of wine, and the use of all strong drinks were 
forbidden, it would rid the possibility of committing that 
odious vice, and men might afterwards live happily and 
healthfully, without the use of these intoxicating drinks." 

I find the following in a letter addressed by the Rev. D. 
Burns, of London, to the Chancellor of the Exchequer : — ■ 
" The Archbishop of Cambray, in his ' Telemachus/ com- 
posed for the instruction of that young Prince, whose early 
death was considered a providential judgment on France, 
sought to convey those principles of government and moral 
conduct which should bless the French nation with a wiser 
sovereign than Louis XIV." 

International peace and free trade, are doctrines of which 
Fenelon was an early apostle ; and as to wine, what was his 
sentiment, founded on all he saw around him ? There are 
two passages which answer to this inquiry. Adoam had 
described the happy state of the people of Boeatica ; and in 
answer to the question of Telemachus, whether they drank 
wine, Adoam answered : — " They care so little for drink- 
ing it that they never wish to make it. Not because they 
are without grapes, for no soil produces more delicious 
ones, but they are satisfied with eating the grape, as they 
do other fruits, .and they dread wine as the corrupter of 
mankind. It is a species of poison, they say, which 
causes madness. It does not make man die, but it degrades 
him into a brute. Men may preserve their health and vigor 
without wine ; with wine they run the risk of ruining their 
health and losing their morals." 

Quite as remarkable is the advice given by Mentor to 
Idomeneus : — " I believe, too, that you ought to take care 



144 TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 

w wine to "become too common in your king- 
dom : if too many vines are planted, they must be rooted 
up. Wine is the source of the greatest evils among com- 
munities. It c tions, idleness, 
aversion to labor, and family disorder. Let wine, then, be 
preserved as a kind of rest :r as a very rare liquor, 
nottc be i :r for extraordinary fes- 
tivities ; but do not hope : rervance of so 
important a rule, if you do the example." 
How surprisingly the evidence here recorded of the teach- 
^ >f Fenelon, c: with the opinions of Louis Phil- 
ippe, and his son, the Duke of Orleans, as expressed to me 
in the pree st worthy minister 
here in 1838. 

I see that the Rev. D the conversa- 

tion, in part, that took place at this interview. This impor- 
tant testimony has often been published, but in this commu- 
nication it may not re it again. I take 
it in the main from his lancellor of the Ex- 
juer : — 
" How matters stand in France, more facts will show ; 
the author i: - - .1 be the late King of the French, 
Louis Philippe, and his much- : n. the Duke of Orleans. 
I was anxious, on the 19th instant, to place t u the 
print- tent relating to this circumstance, but it will 
tough now to explain that, in the November of 1838, 
Mr. F. C. 7. - ooan of New York State, visited 

:w with the King, who, says 
Mr. Delavan. "stated jly that the drunkenness of 

: easioned by wine : n one district of his 

empire, there was much intemperance on gin, but he con 
ered wine the great evil. I took th^- -king him 

if I understood him to say that his opinion was that wine 
sioned most of the evils of intoxication in France, and 
was answered in the same words : — 'The drunkenness of 
France is on wine.' 

"I si the King that I had beei Le the barriers, 

e the common people resort to drink wine, bee 

e it is free of duty. ' Oh/ said he. ' there you will see 

drunkenness,' and truly I had seen it there, in all its horrors 

and debasing effects, and chiefly on wine. I told him my 



TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 146 

guide said that he thought one-eighth of the adult male 
population of Paris were drunkards. His Majesty thought 
this too great a proportion." The Duke of Orleans, in a 
conversation with the same gentleman, remarked, as the 
King had done, that he had no doubt that all intoxicating 
drinks are injurious as a beverage to men in health, and that 
the intemperance of France was on wine. 

"He also stated that in those districts where most wine 
was made, there also was the greatest Wretchedness, and 
the most frequent appeals to government for aid ; and also, 
that so large a proportion of the soil was now cultivated for 
wine, that the raising of stock and grain was diminished to 
an alarming extent, and that he looked to the diminution in 
the use of wine mother countries as a source of hope to France, 
that failing of a market for her wines, the fields of France 
might be cultivated to greater advantage, to produce more 
abundant food and clothing for the people." I will add to 
the above statement, that the Duke of Orleans told me that 
the drinking of a single bottle of wine a day, by the sol- 
dier, it being weak, would do but little injury ; but the use 
of this bottle stimulated the appetite, and the pay went to 
purchase more, the use of which caused breach of rules — 
and disorders of all kinds — then followed court-martials and 
punishments. 

Louis Philippe, or his son, told me that raw silk, to the 
value of 100,000,000 of francs was yearly imported into 
France, which might be produced in the country, were not 
the soil monopolised to so great a degree by the vine. 

How wise it would be in the Emperor of the French to 
discourage the replacing of the diseased grape vines with 
new ones ; indeed, to discourage the cultivation of the grape 
vine altogether, except for food and other allowable purposes. 

Such a course would, in my opinion, add greatly to the 
wealth, health, morals, and general prosperity of the nation. 

Some articles in "Household Words," in 1854, on the 
workmen of France, described the lamentable influence of 
the wine shops ; and in 1855, the Times' Paris correspondent 
stated, that on the 30th of October, the Prefect of the De- 
partment of the Sarthe had issued a circular to all the may- 
ors of his department, in which he declared " the resorting 
to wine houses is deplorable in every respect, for there the 

13 



146 TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 

Government is villified, the health impaired, and the resour- 
ces of the family foolishly squandered, to the detriment of 
morality and religion." 

In the words of De Quincey, " Preparations of intoxica- 
ting liquor, even when harmless in their earlier stages, are* 
fitted to be stepping-stones for making the transition to 
higher stages that are not harmless.** 

Smollett, the historian and novelist, found about a hundred 
years since, in the course of his travels, " that all wine dis- 
tricts are poor, and the French peasantry were always more 
healthy when there was a scarcity of wine.*' 

The Count de Montalembert (and he a Frenchman, ought 
to know,) said in his place in the French National Assembly, 
1850, " Where there is a wine shop there are the elements 
of disease, and the frightful source of all that is at emnity 
with the interests of the workmen.'* 

In an article in the Magazine, called "The Work-a-day 
World of France,** the following alarming picture is drawn 
of the condition of the French industrial centres : — 

" Drunkenness is the beginning and end of life in the great 
French industrial centres. Against this vice what can the 
salaries of women and children do ? The woman's labors 
help the drunken husband on his road to ruin. The child is 
born with disease in his bones, and with evil example before 
him." 

" There are manufacturing towns (Lille for instance), 
where the women have followed the example of the men, 
and have added drunkenness to their other vices. It is es- 
timated that at Lille, 25 out of every 100 men, and 12 out 
of every 100 women, are confirmed drunkards. Here there 
are even women's wine shops, where the unfortunate fre- 
quenters drink coffee and spirits, while their babes lie 
drugged at home with a -dormant? as the popular infant's 
narcotic is called.'* 

Well may the talented editor of the "Alliance Weekly 
News,*' say "this is a terrible picture ; and of France, too, 
the land of light wines, where Mr. Gladstone's Temperance 
drink is the cheap and abundant popular beverage. It is no 
surprise to us to learn that the mayors of manufacturing 
towns in France have begun to turn their eyes towards pro- 
hibition, as the only available remedy.'* 



TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 117 

In 1833," Judge Piatt, one of the Supreme Judges of the 
State of New York, stated in a public address, " that when 
the public mind ivas properly enlightened, grog shops would 
be indictable at common law as public nuisances." 

Chancellor Walworth, about the same time, in his annual 
address before the New York State Temperance Society (of 
which he was their first President), stated " that it was his 
opinion that the time would come, when men would as soon 
be engaged in poisoning their neighbor's wells, as dealing 
out to them intoxicating drinks to be used as a beverage." 

Horatio Greenough, the eminent American sculptor, in a 
letter to me from Florence, in 1838, said : — "Many of the 
more thinking and prudent Italians abstain from the use of 
wine ; several of the most eminent of the medical men are 
notoriously opposed to its use, and declare it a poison. 
When I assure you that one-fifth, and sometimes one-fourth 
of the earnings of the laborers are expended in wine, you 
may form some idea as to its probable influence on their 
health and thrift? 7 

He also stated that the dealers in the weak wines, did not 
hesitate to adulterate them in order to add a trifle to their 
gains. 

J. Fenimore Cooper, the American novelist, said : — " I 
came to Europe under the impression that there was more 
drunkenness among us than in any other country, England, 
perhaps, excepted. A residence of six months in Paris changed 
my views entirely. 77 

" Light wines," says Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, "noth- 
ing so treacherous ! They inflame the brain like fire, while 
melting on the palate like ice. All inhabitants of light wine 
countries are quarrelsome." 

" Oh thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name 
to be known by, let us call thee DEVIL." — [Shakespeare. 

In a former communication I described Piquette, or the 
ordinary wine (so called) of the country, as being a mere 
" decoction " leeched from grape stalks, skins, &c, after 
being drenched with water, and after all the wine had been 
trodden out by the feet. 

In answer to an inquiry with regard to the average value 
of Piquette, &c, Messrs. Barton, Guertier & Co., wrote mo 
from Bordeaux, 21th of April, 1860 :—- 



148 TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 

" The wine vats of Medoc, produce, on an average,. 40 
hhds. of wine ; each 63 American gallons, or 48 English 
Imperial gallons. 

"The average value of Piquette in Medoc, and about 
Bordeaux, has varied, like the wine, 150 per cent, within 
tl e last five or six years. 

"The Imperial gallon, without the cask, in 1853, was 31 
centimes (about 6 sous), in 1860, 38 centimes (about 8 sous). 
Piquette pure, however, is hardly to be met with, and is 
replaced by mixtures of cider, rum and water, and all sorts 
of artificial beverages." 

It appears from this that even the mild wines are used up 
by fabrications, and mixed with all sorts of artificial sub- 
stances, and then palmed off upon the public and the nations 
of the world, as pure healthful wines. This statement agrees 
with that of the sculptor Greenough. 

The French drink wine as we in America drink tea and 
coffee. No wonder that the great physician, Broussais, 
found the stomachs of most of the adults he dissected, in a 
state of disease, and that he came to the conclusion at last, 
t\is,t that disease was occasioned by the use of heating liquors. 
No wonder, too, that Dr. Sewall, of Washington, in his dis- 
sections, found the stomachs of even regular moderate 
drinkers of intoxicating liquor in a state of inflammation, 
and so recorded them in his admirable drawings of their 
stomachs. How could it be otherwise ? Alcohol is as sure 
to make an impression on the stomach as on the face. 

In walking the streets of Paris for weeks past, I have 
been much struck with the difference in appearance of the 
middle-aged and more advanced among the higher classes 
here and in Italy. There the use of strong drink of any 
kind is limited, and it is rare to meet a face among the class 
specified, indicating intemperance ; here such faces meet 
you at every turn, faces not bearing the hue of health, but 
that hue which indicates the ravages of the poison alcohol. 

"Alcohol," says Liebig, " is a bill drawn on the laborer's 
health (every man should be a laborer of some sort), which 
he is incessantly compelled to renew, as he has not funds to 
meet it ; the bankruptcy of the body is the inevitable result." 

Dr. Romeyn Beck, in his Medical Jurisprudence, says : 

%< That alcohol, whether found in rum, brandy or wine, is ' poison,' is con- 



TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 14 

ceded on all hands. It is classed among poisons, because, says a learned 
writer, it is one of ' those substances which are known by physicians as capa- 
ble of altering or destroying, in a majority of cases, some of the functions 
necessary to life.' w 

I have no doubt the surface of the stomach of the regular 
moderate drinker of alcohol is always in a state of disease, 
and diseased in proportion to the alcohol used. It must be 
so, or Liebig and Dr. Beck are in error as respects the qual- 
ities of alcohol. 

The diminished production of pure wine on the continent, 
and consequent increase of price, and the fear of being 
poisoned by fabrications, may have had some influence, not 
only in checking consumption, but in lessening crime and 
poverty to the like extent. 

Then again, the recent great extension of the barriers 
here has brought all the drinking of the inhabitants within 
them ; before this extension the laboring classes of Paris 
were in the habit of resorting to wine shops outside the 
barriers, where they could drink free of duty. Now these 
same drinking places are brought within, and when resorted 
to for intemperance, the city tax on the liquor is added to 
the price. 

Having a letter of introduction to one of the most exten- 
sive vendors of pure wine here, he stated very frankly that 
wine was not a necessary article, but that, like Adam and 
Eve, we were all prone to do that which was forbidden. He 
told me that the wine introduced into Paris was not Piquette, 
but heady wine ; that the fabrications took place in the city, 
and that he believed that full one-half of the liquor drank 
as wine in Paris was fabricated. 

I have learned from another source, tkat pretty much all 
the common wine sold in the shops is manufactured in the 
city, and is of the most injurious quality, from the material! 
used in the manufacture, aside from its contained alcohol. 

Families purchasing directly from makers of known integ- 
rity, are alone partially safe from drugged wine ; and even 
they should be watchful as to the channel through which 
they receive it. The honest dealers find it difficult to carry 
on their trade in competition with the fabricators. 

The wine merchant above referred to, stated that being 
ill, his physician recommended him to take his own Bur- 
gundy as a medicine. In place of taking his advice, he 



150 TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 

drank nothing but water for six weeks, and recovered. The 
physician was well pleased with the recovery of his patient, 
and that his remedy had been so effectual ; but when told 
that water had been substituted for wine, he looked blank 
enough. Still no temperance movement opposes the cau- 
tious use of pure intoxicating drink as a medicine ; but, 
when used as a medicine, it should be abandoned like other 
medicines the moment it has effected the object for which it 
was used. 

A gentleman told me that he drank strong beer at dinner 
by advice of his physician. I asked him, " How long have 
you been taking this medicine at dinner ?" " Two years," 
was his reply. I remarked that I thought it rather a singu- 
lar habit to take medicine for so long a time at the dinner 
table. After a moment's reflection he laughed outright, and 
said, " I will own up, I love it." Another gentleman of the 
same city called on me while here in 1838, and remarked, 
" I am 74 years old ; I was in the habit of taking two glasses 
of wine a day as a medicine ; I gave it up because I wished 
to give my entire example to the cause of temperance, and 
much to my surprise, I found the disease left me I had been 
taking wine to cure." While in Rome I saw it announced 
that he had died at the age of 94. I know men sometimes 
live to a great age using alcohol, but they live on in spite 
of alcohol, and probably would have lived much longer 
without it. Let one case in a thousand exist like this, 
and it is constantly quoted in opposition to the only safe 
principle — total abstinence from all that can intoxicate as a 
beverage in health. 

ce Out of a caravan of eighty-two persons, who crossed the great desert 
from Algiers to Timbuctoo, the present summer, all but fifteen used wine and 
other liquors, as a preventive against African diseases. Soon after reaching 
Timbuctoo, these all died, save one ; while of the fifteen who abstained all 
survived." 

This wine merchant directed me to where I could see the 
results of wine drinking in all its debasement. I visited 
one wine shop with my guide last evening (Monday) ; I saw 
the proprietor, and told him that I was curious to see his 
establishment ; he was very polite, and sent a person round 
with us. 

At the lowest, five hundred persons were already assem- 
bled, and the people were flocking there in droves; men 



TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 15i 

women and children, whole families, young' girls alone, boys 
alone, taking their seats at tables ; a mother with an infant 
on her arm came reeling up one of the passages. 

It was an immense establishment, occupying three sides 
of a square, three or four stories high, and filling rapidly 
with wine votaries. I saw hundreds in a state of intoxica- 
tion, to a greater or less degree. All, or nearly all, had wine 
before them. 

The attendant stated to me that the day before (Sunday) at 
least 2,000 visited the establishment, and that the average 
consumption of wine was 2,000 bottles per day. 

This place was considered a rather respectable wine shop. 
My guide then took me to another establishment, not ten 
minutes 7 ride from the Emperor's Palace. 

The scene here beggars description. I found myself in a 
narrow lane, filled with men and women of the lowest grade. 
The first object which met my sight was a man dragging 
another out of the den by the hair, into the lane. Then com- 
menced a most inhuman fight ; at least fifty people were at 
hand, but not a soul attempted to part the combatants ; at 
last one fell against the curb-stone, I thought him dead, but 
he soon got up again, and at it they went. 

I then entered into the outer room of the establishment, 
which was packed full of the most degraded human beings 
I ever beheld, drinking wine, and talking in loud voices. I 
did not dare to proceed further. It was much worse than 
the wine shops I visited in Rome, in 1839, when I was sent 
by Cardinal Acton, to see the result of wine drinking there. 
It is rather a remarkable fact, that in starting on my expe- 
dition last night, as I was entering my cab for the purpose, 
the very man who took me to that Roman wine shop, in 1839, 
was standing at the door of my hotel. 

I asked him if he remembered the circumstance. " Oh, 
well," said. he. " It was bad enough ; " and well do I recol- 
lect his having said to me at the time, " Let us go, our lives 
are in danger here." 

I was informed by the cabman, that in- the establishment 
last visited, he had seen from 80 to 150 lying drunk at a 
time ; that they frequently drank to beastly drunkenness, 
and remained until the fumes passed off, for if found drunk 
in the streets the police take them in charge. 



152 TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 

Mr. Gladstone's plan of inundating Great Britain with 
French liquor called wine, at a low rate of duty, as a tem- 
perance measure, is calling forth extensive and thorough 
information with regard to the effect of the use of wine on 
the inhabitants of mis-named temperate drinking France. 
An intelligent Englishman, now engaged in making exami- 
nations with regard to this important question, has written 
a long letter to his correspondent in England, giving some 
of the results. I make a brief extract from his letter : 

(i That men — any men — can sit for hours drinking wine, of ever so moderate 
a percentage of alcohol, without perceptible effect, no one can believe. 
When, however, we find that the wine is not so moderate as is commonly sup- 
posed, and that the stronger liquors are pretty freely used, the effort to main- 
tain a calm exterior becomes a more difficult matter. Anyhow, even within 
the early hours, the effect is apparent on not a few; while, as evening 
advances, the reign of Bacchus becomes more conspicuous. 

(i If not (in appearance) drunk, they are excited. If stupefied, they would 
be comparatively harmless. If maddened, they would be shunned. The 
simple Boor sleeps after his pot, and is wheeled to his bed. The whisky-lov- 
ing Irishman flourishes his stick, and makes a clear course with all except 
another inspired one. The wine-elevated Frenchman is raised to the danger- 
ous point — dangerous to himself and others. His passions are not drowned 
or enfeebled, but developed and intensified. He has had sufficient to silence 
conscience; but not to subdue reason. Heis not bestialisedbut devilised. Such 
a man requires not to be placed within the sphere of temptation to commit 
sin ; he carries with him a defiled moral atmosphere, and becomes himself the 
tempter. The principles of true honor are forgotten, and the claims of 
friendship and society are disregarded. He is prepared to execute any evil to 
gratify his own unholy feelings, provided he does not place himself in danger. 
Burning with base passions, he is not so lost by the drink as to hazard his owa 
person, or fail to win his object by incautious haste. He is thus truly drunk 
in the worst possible degree — in the most dangerous sense. As I shall be here- 
after able to prove, in my subsequent communications, the sad moral state 
of France and other continental countries, is more owing to alcoholic liquors, 
mild as they may be, than to all other causes put together. " 

I add from another reliable source : 

li With regard to intemperance, it has almost become an accepted fact, 
that it is more prevalent in England than in any other country. But we have 
only wanted accurate and reliable statistics to dispel this fallacy . Mr. Jules 
Simon shows us that in the manufacturing towns of France, that hitherto 
accepted model of a temperate country, the working classes who inhabit the 
squalid lodgings of the back slums, are as violently addicted to liquor, as the 
most degraded of the same class in England. We can find no parallel in 
London to the picture drawn by M. Simon, of a Rouen wine shop. The work- 
men are no sooner let loose from the factory than they rush in a mass to the 
cabaret, while a crowd of weeping wives may be seen waiting for them for 
weary hours outside the doors. The apprentices, at the early age of twelve, 
may be seen drinking the coarse brandy, which they very aptly call the 
" cruel." As a body, these workmen and their families are feeble and sickly 
They die at a terrible rate." 



TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 153 

Cardinal Acton stated to me in 1839, the Government of 
Rome had more to fear from the wine shops, than from any 
other source. 

I am convinced that the Emperor of the French has more 
to fear from the wine shops than all other sources united. 
They furnish the material for riot and revolution, and the 
wine drank in them is the stimulant to every vice. Ameri- 
cans and others, visiting the fashionable walks of Paris and 
other continental cities, seeing but few staggering men in 
the streets, suppose, and honestly suppose, that wine coun- 
tries are, in a great measure, free from the vice of intem- 
perance, but it is a great mistake. I was told there were 
hundreds of such places in Paris as I visited last night. 

I do hope that hereafter my countrymen interested in the 
question, when in Paris, will devote an hour or two on some 
Monday evening to the examination I went through last 
night. By so doing, they would, like Mr. Greeley, of the 
Tribune, help to correct a great mistake. I could not but 
wish last evening that Mr. Gladstone had been with me. 
Had he seen what I saw, I think we should hear no more of 
his Wine Bill, unless immediate income has more weight 
with him than public morals, which I do not believe. 

Solomon seems to have understood this matter better than 
some good men of the present day, when he says : — "Wine 
is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is de- 
ceived thereby is not wise." " Who hath woe ? Who hath 
sorrow ? Who hath contentions ? Who hath babbling ? 
Who hath wounds without cause ? Who hath redness of 
eyes ? They that tarry long at the wine ; they that go to 
seek mixed wine." And it would seem that Isaiah had wit- 
nessed scenes somewhat similar to those described, when 
he said : — " But they also have erred through wine, and 
through strong drink are out of the way ; the priest and the 
prophet have erred through strong drink ; they are swal- 
lowed up of wine ; they are out of the way through strong 
drink ; they. err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For 
all tables are full of vomit and fllthiness, so that there is no 
place clean." 

If such facts and opinions as the above, from men who 
could have no motive to mislead, will not satisfy the intelli- 
gent mind of the fallacy of introducing cheap and weak 



154 TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 

wines into any country, as a temperance measure, I do not 
know what will. 

Brussels, Belgium, May tth, 1860. 

Being in this city for a day or two only, I have had no 
time to make any personal examination, but while visiting 
the Parliament House, I met with a very intelligent person, 
who gave me some information on the drinking usages of 
the people. 

He stated that the principal beverage is strong beer, of 
which, at least 200 tuns are consumed daily in Brussels, 
each tun containing from 250 to 300 litres. Besides this 
beer, much French wine is drank, most of which is very 
bad, being falsified. He stated that a large proportion of 
the deaths, here are occasioned by these drinks. Many will 
drink from ten to twelve large glasses of beer at a sitting. 

London, May 9th. 

When in this city, in 1838, I attended a vast meeting of 
the friends of temperance from all parts of the kingdom, at 
Exeter Hall. After a .severe and exciting contest, the 
pledge of the American Temperance Union was adopted by 
a vote almost unanimous. The Queen was then at the head 
of the movement opposed to the use of ardent spirits. 

Since the adoption of the total abstinence pledge, I 
believe no organization favoring any other exists, either in 
this country or any other. The name is of little importance, 
the thing is everything; alcohol is the same poison, whether 
found in the wine decanter or the gin flask. 

When alcohol in the wine cup was assailed, although 
the same poison as alcohol in the whisk}?- jug, many, as you 
well know, walked no longer with us. I could give a 
tragical history of some who halted, while you and others 
went right on. Not a day has passed over my head since I 
was here, in 1838, that I have not felt deep regret that Her 
Majesty could not have seen it to be her duty at that time, 
to continue in the movement, and sanction total abstinence 
from the use of alcohol in fermented drinks, as she has from 
alcohol in ardent spirits. 1 pray she may yet see it to be 
her duty to take the step. 

I have had a long conversation with one of Her Majesty's 
household; he spoke of. the habits of the Queen and the 



TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 155 

heir to the throne, and as extremely moderate in the use of 
strong drink. I asked him what he thought the effect upon 
the world would be, should they adopt entire abstinence : 
his reply was, " mighty." 

Last night was one of deep interest to me. At an early 
hour, I was placed, by the politeness of a member, in one 
of the best seats for listening to the debates on the floor of 
the House of Commons. The great discussion of the night 
was the Chancellor of the Exchequer's wine bill, to extend 
licenses to vend wine to all persons selling refreshments. 
The object of the bill was to bring eating and wine drink- 
ing into an indissoluble union. Had the bill passed in the 
shape it was introduced by Mr. Gladstone, I have no doubt 
there would have been 100,000 licensed drinking shops 
added to those already in existence. 

The opposition to the measure was very powerful, and I 
suppose, for the first time, the principle of total abstinence 
was broached in Parliament. Very feeble, indeed, was the 
advocacy in its favor. One member remarked, " should the 
bill be passed, the drunkenness of Paris will be superadded 
to that of London." 

How I did wish men could have been there like Bishop 
Alonzo Potter of Pennsylvania, General Cary, Chancellor 
Walworth, and many others I could mention, to shed light 
upon this great subject; but, as it was, the Chancellor of 
the Exchequer trembled for his measure, and had he not pro- 
mised to amend it in many important particulars, it never 
could have reached (I have been assured) its third reading. 
I send you the London Times containing the discussion. 

The Chancellor of the Exchequer acknowledged that the 
whole question of license was involved in the discussion. I 
think, with him, that the question now before Parliament 
1 does involve the whole license system" — a system hon- 
estly designed to check intemperance, but its effect ever 
has been to legalize and make respectable a traffic which, 
in fact, is a most intolerable nuisance, and the parent of 
every crime known to the courts. When the public mind 
shall be properly instructed with regard to the results of 
this system, pure minded law makers will as soon license 
men to go forth with poisoned daggers, to stab their fellow- 
creatures, as license them, with poisonous liquors to exe- 



156 TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 

cute, and with unrelenting vengeance, on like unsuspecting 
victims, the same work of death. 

Lord Chesterfield, in his address before the House of 
Lords, 125 years ago, touched the point exactly. He said : 
" luxury, my lords, is to be taxed, but vice prohibited, let 
the difficulty of the law be what it will. Luxury, or that 
which is pernicious by excess, may very properly be taxed, 
that such excess, though not unlawful, may be made more 
difficult; but the use of those things which are simply 
hurtful in their own nature, (intoxicating drinks as a beve- 
rage are always so), and in every degree, is to be prohi- 
bited." 

I must in candor say that it is my belief that, from the 
peculiar government and stability of the laws in Great 
Britain, the rich blessings to flow from the total prohibition 
of the liquor traffic will be enjoyed there much sooner than 
with us in America. 

I am rejoiced to find that the labor of instructing the 
public mind on this question is in the hands of men who 
will never relax their efforts until the work be accom- 
plished. 

The belief is becoming more and more diffused, that 
intoxicating liquors are never necessary or beneficial as a 
beverage in health. Their sale for such use is at war with 
the best interests of the people, under every government 
and in every land. 

Physicians are greatly in the way of the total abstinence 
movement. I have hardly conversed with a moderate 
drinker, who has not opposed me by saying, " I drink by 
order of my physician." Even Mr. Gladstone, in defence of 
his own wine bill, read a note from Dr. Ferguson in favor 
of it, and remarked also that the same celebrated physician 
recommended wine to him in " no illiberal potations." (Now 
this same Dr. Ferguson signed a certificate, with hundreds 
of the most distinguished medical men in the country, 
giving it as their opinion that the use of even fermented 
drinks was never necessary, but injurious as a beverage in 
health, and millions of copies of this certificate were circu- 
lated in the United States.) Doctors ought, it should seem, 
to know better. Look back, my dear sir, to the end of 
many of the greatest statesmen in our own, as well as in 



TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 157 

this country. In how many instances have they been 
betrayed by the fallacy of the assumption that wine is a 
healthful beverage, into a practice which has proved fatal 
alike to their happiness and their virtue. 

Surely it cannot be desirable to superadd to the miseries 
occasioned by beer drinking in England, the intense miseries 
inflicted by the drinking of the fabricated wines of France. 

The more wealthy classes will not drink the kind of wine 
now about to be introduced ; the object is to induce the middle 
classes to take to wine drinking as a temperance measure. 

If the Emperor of the French really entertains malicious 
designs against England, to wipe out the recollection of 
Waterloo, and the thoughts which St. Helena naturally 
calls forth, I do not see how he could have his feelings 
more gratified than by deluging the English nation with 
his fabricated drinks. 

I have no doubt, should Mr. Gladstone's plan be fully 
carried out, there would be more people destroyed by it 
yearly in this country than fell on the field of Waterloo. 

It is a well ascertained fact, that there is not enough 
pure wine produced in France to supply the tables of the 
wealthy of that country, so that shipments of the 
" decoctions " called wine, as a general rule, will be of the 
most disgusting and poisonous character, unfit to be used 
by man or beast. Forty years ago, and before science had 
taught the secret of transmutation of drinks, and when 
alcohol was the only poison in them to be contended with, 
a man might live-on using them, " with all becoming mode- 
ration,' 7 for twenty years or so, without becoming a stag- 
gering drunkard; but now, since these scientific discoveries, 
it is a well ascertained fact in the United States, that on 
the average a man does not live over three years after the 
love of these fabricated intoxicating drinks has gained an 
ascendency over him. 

Of all the humbugs by which the good people of England 
and America are taken in, there is none quite equal to the 
wine humbug. I find the following in the London Times, in 
relation to the individual who negotiated the Commercial 
Treaty with France (I only apply to the wine part of it) — 
"To use a good old icord, which in the days of Queen Anne was 
classical English, the Emperor has completely 'bubbled' him 77 

14 



158 TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 

The Times remarks that the object of the bill is to intro- 
duce a drink " less poisonous" than gin. Why in the name 
of common sense should Government desire to introduce a 
" poisonous " drink at all, and then commission men to sell 
it as a common beverage ? 

What are to be the remedies for the appalling evils, flow- 
ing from the use of alcohol as a beverage ? for alcohol is 
the poison which causes the drunkenness of the world. 
Alcohol is, indeed, a good creature of God, but misapplied 
when used as a beverage in health, as really as laudanum 
or prussic acid would be. 

The doctrine that the Bible sanctions the use of intoxi- 
cating drinks, as a beverage, has been the bane of the 
church, and has already caused the downfall of millions 
upon millions within its Pale, and is still leading other mil- 
lions on to the same impending judgment. 

The delusive doctrine, that the moderate use of intoxi- 
cating drinks as a beverage, is safe, and excess is only to 
be avoided, has caused most of the drunkenness of the 
world; this delusion must be expelled, or intemperance will 
continue to the end of time. The use of alcohol, as a 
beverage in health, is at all times, and in all cases, a viola- 
tion of the laws of life, which are the laws of God; and so 
long as such moderate use of intoxicating poison is sanc- 
tioned, or winked at by the church, drunkenness will 
(though unwittingly) be sanctioned. 

Temperance organizations have, through their presses 
and lectures, furnished the world with facts and arguments 
to show that there can be no cure for the mighty evil in 
question, but total abstinence; by doing which they havf 
cleared the way for the church to come to the rescue, and 
carry forward the glorious work to its final consummation. 
This done, the church having spoken, and the national con- 
science quickened by her voice, the right kind of legisla- 
tion will follow, and an end be put to the sale of poisons, 
which now (under sanction of law) is producing an amount 
of disease, poverty, taxation and crime, under the weight 
of which the nation, especially our cities, groan. 

Even now the people of the United States are fully pre- 
pared for stringent laws against the vending of fabricated 
liquors. 



TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 159 

Let Congress enact a law to have trustworthy chemists 
appointed in all our ports of entry, to test imported liquors, 
and if found to be adulterated, condemned. Let State leg- 
islators enact laws to prevent the sale of adulterated 
liquors, and to inflict severe punishment on those infringing 
such laws, and a step would be taken in the right direction; 
a step which, by the blessing of God, might prove the 
inception of measures destined to lead to the removal of the 
curse of intemperance, to the renovation of the world. 

The use of tobacco in Europe is becoming as general as 
in America, and its effects are most manifest; the evil is 
second only to the use of alcohol, and if not arrested will, in 
time, reduce the people of Europe and America to the present 
condition of China and Turkey, through their use of opium. 

The testimony of Lord Brougham is of great value with 
regard to the wine question. He has an estate on the Con- 
tinent; he resides thereon a part of the year, and can speak 
from personal observation. I visited his Lordship in his 
castle in England; we exchanged views on the Temperance 
question generally; his mind is tending to prohibition. He 
asked me whether I thought strong beer injurious; I re- 
plied, "just so far as it contains alcohol and drugs; just so 
far I consider it injurious as a beverage in health." He 
gave three very significant nods to my reply; I concluded 
he understood the science of alcohol as well as Liebig. In 
an address before the society for the promotion of social 
science, delivered at Glasgow, speaking of the Maine 
Liquor Law, he says, and I think with great truth and 
justice: * 

" At our last Congress, great attention was given to the 
important subject of temperance, and especially to the 
necessity of preparing public opinion for those repressive 
measures which experience daily proves more and more 
clearly to be required for lessening the consumption of 
spirituous liquors The great source of pauperism and of 
crimes has hitherto only been attacked by palliatives, and 
although these have had a certain success, yet if there be 

* This letter was published in England, and a copy placed before each 
member of the House of Lords and Commons, before Mr. Gladstone's wine 
bill came up for discussion. Lord Brougham in his place sustained me as to 
the effects of the use of wine in wine producing countries. — E. C. D. 



160 TEMPERANCE OF WINE COUNTRIES. 

any means not exposed to serious objections, by which the 
evil may be extirpated, the gain to society would be incal- 
culable. Remember the memorable expression of that great 
philanthropist, our eminent colleague, the Recorder of Bir- 
mingham, l Whatever step I take/ says Mr. Hill, l and into 
whatever direction I may strike, the drink demon starts up 
before me, and blocks the way.' 

" This is a subject which, happily with us, has never in 
any respect, been brought within the dominion of party, 
either civil or religious. Such, however, has been its lot in 
\he New World; and it affords the most remarkable illus- 
tration of the evils which afflict the United States from the 
practice of their constitution, maintaining in every part of 
the country an incessant canvass, caused by the distribu- 
tion of patronage and change of offices. Every subject of 
a nature to interest the community, and thus to create a 
difference of opinion, becomes the ground of controversy to 
contending parties, and so the Maine Liquor Law becomes 
a question upon which Governors were chosen and removed. 
The evils which the suspension of that law occasioned in 
the great increase of pauperism and crimes which had, 
under its beneficent operation, been reduced within an 
incredibly narrow compass, but which now rapidly revived, 
so seriously impressed men's minds with the mischief of 
having made it a party question that a resolution was 
passed at the State convention against ever so treating the 
subject hereafter. Nothing can redound more to the honor 
of the American people than their thus firmly persevering 
m their just and righteous determination. But it is impos- 
sible to avoid feeling how great is our happiness in this 
country to be free from the influence of such disturbing 
forces upon our most important measures. We discuss 
them freely on their own merits, and apply to the considera- 
tion of them those principles which, on mere matters of 
science— but science reduced to practice — should guide the 
inquiry and dictate the conclusions. We are removed 
above the storms raised by popular fury, nor are ever 
stunned by the noise which the psalmist compares to that 
of the raging sea; and our vision is not obscured by the 
clouds which faction drives together." 

Yours very truly, EDWARD C. DELAVAN. 



No. 11. 

♦» 

[From the Albany Atlas.] 

A THRILLING SOEJSTE, 

ILLUSTRATING MODERATE DRINKING. 



Permit me to illustrate my views of moderate drinking, by 
relating substantially a thrilling scene, which occurred in a 
town in a neighboring State, while the people were gathered 
together to discuss the merits of the license question, and 
decide informally, whether neighbors should any longer be 
permitted to destroy each other by vending alcoholic poisons. 

The town had suffered greatly from the sale and use of 
intoxicating liquors. The leading influences were opposed to 
total abstinence. At the meeting, the clergyman, a deacon, 
and the physician, were present, and were all in favor of con- 
tinuing the custom of license — all in favor of permitting a 
few men of high moral character to sell alcohol — for they all 
agreed in the opinion, that alcohol in moderation, when used 
as a beverage, was a good creature of God, and also, to 
restrict the sale or moderate use, was an unjust interference 
with human liberty, and a reflection upon the benevolence of 
the Almighty. They all united in the belief, that in the use 
of alcohol as a beverage, excess alone was to be avoided. 

The feeling appeared to be all one way, when a single teeto- 
taller,* who was present by accident, but who had been a 
former resident of the town, begged leave to differ from the 
speakers who had preceded him. He entered into a history 

* The facts contained in this article were furnished by this teetotaller. 



162 A THRILLING SCENE. 

of the village from its early settlement ; he called the atten- 
tion of the assembly to the desolation moderate drinking had 
brought upon families and individuals ; he pointed to the 
poor-house, the prison-house, and the grave-yard, for its 
numerous victims ; he urged the people by every considera- 
tion of mercy, to let down the flood gates, and prevent, as far 
as possible, the continued desolation of families, by the mode- 
rate use of alcohol. But all would not do. The arguments 
of the clergyman, the deacon, and the physician, backed by 
station, learning and influence, were too much for the single 
teetotaller. No one arose to continue the discussion or sup- 
port him, and the president of the meeting was about to put 
the question — when all at once there arose from one corner of 
the room, a miserable female. She was thinly clad, and her 
appearance indicated the utmost wretchedness, and that her 
mortal career was almost closed. After a moment of silence, 
and all eyes being fixed upon her, she stretched her attenuated 
body to its utmost height, then her long arms to their greatest 
length, and raising her voice to a shrill pitch, she called upon 
all to look upon her. u Yes ! " she said, "look upon me, and 
then hear me. All that the last speaker has said relative to 
moderate drinking, as being the father of all drunkenness, is 
true. All practice, all experience, declares its truth. All 
drinking of alcoholic poison, as a beverage in health, is excess. 
Look upon me. You all know me, or once did. You all 
know I was once the mistress of the best farm in this town. 
You all know, too, I once had one of the best— the most 
devoted of husbands. You all know I had five noble hearted, 
industrious boys. Where are they now ? Doctor, where are 
they now ? You all know. You all know they lie in a row, 
side by side, in yonder church-yard ; all — every one of them — 
filling the drunkard's grave ! They were all taught to believe 
that moderate drinking was safe, — excess alone ought to be 
avoided ; and they never acknowledged excess. They quoted 
you, and you, and you, pointing with her shred of a finger to 
the Priest, Deacon and Doctor, as authority. They thought 
themselves safe under such teachers. But I saw the gradual 
change coming over my family and prospects, with dismay and 
horror ; I felt we were all to be overwhelmed in one common 
ruin ; I tried to ward off the blow ; I tried to break the spell 
— the delusive spell — in which the idea of the benefits of 



ANOTHER. 163 

moderate drinking had involved my husband and sons ; I 
begged, I prayed ; but the odds were greatly against me. The 
Priest said the poison that was destroying my husband and 
boys was a good creature of God ; the Deacon (who sits under 
the pulpit there, and took our farm to pay his rum bills), sold 
them the poison ; the Physician said that a little was good, 
and excess ought to be avoided. My poor husband and my 
dear boys fell into the snare, and one after another was con- 
veyed to the dishonored grave of the drunkard. Now look at 
me again — you probably see me for the last time — my sand 
has almost run. I have dragged my exhausted frame from 
my present abode — your poor-house — to warn you all — to 
warn you, Deacon ! — to warn you, false teacher of God's 
word" — and with her arms high flung, and her tall form 
stretched to its utmost, and her voice raised to an unearthly 
pitch — she exclaimed, " I shall soon stand before the judg- 
ment seat of God — I shall meet you there, ye false guides, 
and be a swift witness against you all." The miserable female 
vanished — a dead silence pervaded the assembly — the Priest, 
Deacon and Physician hung their heads— the President of the 
meeting put the question — Shall we have any more licenses to 
sell alcoholic poisons, to be drank as a beverage? The re- 
sponse was unanimous — No! Friends of humanity every- 
where, what would have been your verdict had you been there ? 



ANOTHER 



I was well acquainted with a gentleman in the city of New 
York, many years since, of high position in the church, and 
social standing in the community : he commenced the habit of 
moderate drinking at a period of life when the effect was not 
perceptible to all, while it was to me, still he never went 
beyond moderation. He had six sons — all but one became 
drunkards and died drunkards ; that one was discharged from 
a responsible public trust in consequence of his habits ; this 
brought him to his senses, he reformed, and appealed to me to 
help to procure his restoration. I enquired of him the cause 
of all this desolation in his family. Oh ! said he, "it was the 
habit of my father to give to his sons, after a certain age. 



164 TO TRUTH-SEEKERS. 

before breakfast, a small quantity of alcoholic bitters, to give 
them an appetite, and on Sunday to invite each to drink wine 
to the health of father and mother." Let me ask, who is to 
answer for all this ? E. C. D. 



TO TRUTH-SEEKERS. 

And does that blessed Book of books, which none 

But bold bad men despise, its sanction give 

To poisonous alcoholic wines ? And 

Can the Christian plead a Bible charter 

For the use of that which history, science, 

Reason, and experience, all combined 

On amplest scale, have fairly, fully proved 

To be inimical to man ? Hath God 

By inspiration taught frail, erring men, 

To venture on an awful precipice, 

Where danger lurks at every step ? Hath He 

Whose workmanship we are, no more regard 

Or care paternal for his creature man, 

Than thus to jeopardize, on ruin's brink, 

The fair and beauteous fabric of his hand, 

Whence shine creative wisdom, power and skill, 

In lines of brighter hue than all the vast 

Of nature's splendid scenery can boast ? 

Can it be thought that He, whose boundless love 

Evolved Redemption's scheme of grace immense, 

And laid upon his own all-potent arm 

The mighty undertaking — can it be 

That He approves the use of that which tends 

With constant, uniform, and powerful sway, 

To mar, pervert and frustrate all his work ? 

Did that same Jesus, from Heaven sent 

On God-like mission of eternal love, 

To spoil the powers of darkness, death, and hell, 

And lift from ruin's vortex of despair, 

A prostrate, helpless, dying, rebel world — 

Did He, by precept or example, stamp 

A signature divine upon that cup 

Which, as ■ a mocker,' sparkles to deceive? 



TO TRUTH-SEEKERS. 165 

Did He, the famous Galilean King, 

When first he showed his wonder-working arm, 

And poured the glory of his Father forth 

At Cana's holy, blest, connubial feast — 

Did He the copious water plenished jars 

Defile with poisonous adder-stinging wine. 

And palm upon that unsuspecting group 

A serpent, sparkling in a raging cup ? 

And did the holy, harmless, spotless Lamb 

Who gave his life for all, a ransom vast, 

And seal'd with blood the cov'nant of his grace — 

Did He the parting ' cup of blessing' fill 

With lust-inspiring wine ? Did He command 

His loved and loving ones to shadow forth 

His dying passion and undying love, 

By drinking at his sacred board of that 

Which, as a second curse, since the old flood, 

Has spread a tide of moral pestilence 

O'er all the earth; 'neath whose corrupting stream 

Prophet and Priest and Saint have sunk o'erwhelm'd, 

And with unnumbered millions found, alas ! 

Perdition's deepest, darkest, direst hell ? 

Nay, Christian! startle not; no sceptic's sneer ; 

Or scowl of infidel, or jest profane, 

Is couch'd beneath the queries now proposed. 

We take with firm confiding trust and love 

The sacred volume, and revere the page 

Whose hallowed verities unfold to man 

His nature, origin and destiny. 

We joyously adore and venerate 

The God of Heaven and earth, and lowly bow 

Before His throne, as suppliants for His grace ; 

With faith unfeigned we take salvation's cup, 

And call upon the name of Him by whom 

Redemption's price was paid for all our race. 

It is because we thus revere God's word, 

And venerate our Father's holy name, 

And cling with faith and love to Jesus' cross, 

That we would seek to wipe away 

The stain, which infidels would be well pleased to view 

Upon the mirror of Eternal Truth. — English Publication 



166 TRIAL OP JOHN BURNETT. 

SCHOHARIE OYER AND TERMINER: 

TRIAL OF JOHN BURNETT 

FOR THE MURDER OP 

GEORGE SORNBERGER. 



Hon. Amasa J. Parker, Circuit Judge. 



Solomon Pratt Sworn — I keep a tavern ; the prisoner was 
there on the 24th of March last, George Sornberger was there also. 

They drank together at my house; they left my house 
together ; I saw the body of Sornberger next when they were 
holding the inquest ; Sornberger staggered some when he left. 

Jacob Sanford* I saw Sornberger fall near Franklinton, 
and he pulled Burnett over with him. 

Michel Sanford, the counsel for the defence, remarked — 

" I harbor no enmity against Solomon Pratt, neither would 
I utter a word of reproach to wound his feelings or injure his 
character. I have been personally acquainted with him for a 
number of years, and believe him to be a good citizen and a 
worthy neighbor, as he is esteemed to be in his own commu- 
nity. But when, hereafter, he deals out to his fellows, RUM, 
let him remember that his traffic produced this unhappy result ; 
hastened Sornberger, unwarned, to the tribunal of his Maker — 
deprived his wife of her chosen companion, her children of 
their earthly protector, and brought this prisoner, if he be 
executed, to his untimely doom" 

"It is an unrighteous law that commissions one class of 
men to deal out to another class an agent to produce crime, 
while at the same time it provides prisons, and affixes penal- 
ties to punish all such offences committed, i" hate this law, 
and its miserable effects have led me for twenty years past to 
raise my voice in behalf of temperance. THESE LAND- 
LORDS THAT DEAL OUT THE LIQUID POISON, ARE 
THEMSELVES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CRIMES OF 
THEIR VICTIMS, AND IF THEIR LITTLE BURNING 
HELLS WERE SHUT UP, MAN MIGHT GO TO HEA- 
VEN. Yes, the lawyers might plough, the clerks hoe, and 
the judges preach, if rum was banished from the land. The 



WORDS OF WISDOM. 167 

murderer is drunk — his victim is drunk ; and ofttimes the 
jury and those assigned to try the prisoner are drunk. This 
mighty source of nfisery and evil is ghastly apparent every 
where, and notwithstanding the scene before us, and all that 
is daily and constantly experienced, there will still be found 
those disposed to continue its traffic." 

Verdict, Guilty ; Sentence, to be hung by the neck in the 
jail at Schenectady, on Tuesday, the 14th July next, — AND 
WAS SO HUNG. 



WORDS OF WISDOM FROM GREAT AKD WISE MEN. 

Rev. Dr. Lyman Beecher, in- a letter to me wrote years 
since : "Alcohol taken as a beverage, is always injurious in 
proportion to the quantity taken and the frequency of its use. 

" Its use is therefore not only inexpedient as an injurious 
example, but is morally wrong, both as it endangers health, 
and exposes to the insidious dominion of a deadly habit, and 
countenances its production and use with all its sweeping 
desolations and woes. 

" The use of alcohol, therefore, as a beverage, is in my 
judgment, both inexpedient as an example, and morally wrong 
as a violation of the obligation, to us^ all lawful means to 
preserve our own and the life of our neighbor." 

President Wayland in an address says : " Can it be 
right for me to derive my living from that which is debasing 
the minds and ruining the souls of my neighbors ? Would 
it be right for me to derive my living by selling poison or 
propagating the plague around me — or from the sale of a 
drug which produced misery and madness : from that which 
destroyed, forever, the happiness of the domestic circle — 
which is filling the land with women and children in a condi- 
tion far more deplorable than that of widows and orphans : 
from that which is known to be the cause of nearly all the 
crimes which are perpetrated against society : which causes 
nearly all the pauperism which exists, and which the rest of 
the community are obliged to pay for ; and which accomplishes 
all these at once, and which continues to do it without ceasing! 

" Do you not know that the liquors you are selling will pro 



168 WORDS OF WISDOM. 

duce these results ? Do you not know that 999 gallons pro- 
duce these effects, for one that is used innocently ? I ask, 
would it be right, then, for me to sell poison, on the ground 
that there was one chance in a thousand that the person would 
not die of it ? 

11 Do you say you are not responsible for the acts of your 
neighbors ? Is this clearly so ? Is not he who knowingly fur- 
nishes a murderer with a weapon, considered as an accomplice ? 
Is not he who navigates a slave ship considered as a pirate ? 

11 If these things be so (and that they are who can dispute), 

I ask you, my respected fellow citizens, what is to be done ? 
Let me ask, Is not this trade altogether wrong ? 
Why, then, should you not abandon it altogether ? If any 
man think otherwise, and choose to continue it, I have but 
One word to say. My brother, when you order a cargo of 
.intoxicating drink, think how much misery you are importing 
into the community. As you store it up, think how many curses 
you are heaping up together against yourself. As you roll 
it out of your warehouse, think how man\ families each cask 
will ruin. Let your thoughts then revert to your own fireside, 
your wife and little ones ; look upward to Him who judgeth 
righteously, and ask yourself, my brother, in His presence, 
before whom we must one dav be judged, is this right ? " 

" THE GREAT DISCOVERY." savs a European writer, 

II HAS AT LENGTH COMB FORTH LIKE THE LIGHT 
OF A NEW DAY. THAT THE MODERATE CONSUM- 
ERS OF INTOXICATING DRINKS, ARE THE CHIEF 
AGENTS IN PROMOTING AND PERPETUATING 
DRUNKENNESS." On whose mind this great truth first 
rose, is not known. Whoever he was, whether humble or 
great, peace to his memory. He has done more for the world 
than he who enriched it with a continent ; and posterity, to 
the remotest generations, shall walk in the light he has thrown 
around them. Had it not been for him, Americans and Euro- 
peans might have continued to countenance the moderate 
ordinary use of a substance, whose most moderate ordinary 
use is temptation and danger ; and amidst a flood of prejudice 
and temptation, urged onward by themselves, they would have 
made rules against drunkenness like ropes of sand, to be burst 
and buried by the coming wave. " Temperance Societies," 
he savs, ik have only made America truly the new world." 



THE 

LITTLE GOLDEN-HAIRED BOY 

AND 

HIS ELDER BROTHER. 

FOUXDED ON FACT, 



There were in a once happy family, two brothers — a pro- 
mising youth approaching manhood, and his brother, a little 
lad, with golden ringlets falling over his neck and shoulders. 
They loved each other dearly. The little brother had a patch 
of ground set off for him in the garden. One day, his elder 
brother was decoyed into a grog shop near at hand, and per- 
suaded by the keeper to take a drink of his " fire water." 
This little took immediate effect on his brain, and he was 
tempted to take a little more and still a little more, and then 
he turned for his home. Passing through the garden, the 
first one he met was his little brother with his hoe in hand 
cultivating his little garden. Prompted by the alcohol within 
him, the elder brother made some brutal remark, to which his 
little brother made a reply, which increased the flame rum had 
already kindled within him. In a fury he wrenched the hoe 
from the little one's hand, and with a single blow laid him 
dead at his feet. He too fell, dead drunk. The little brother 
waked up, doubtless in Paradise. The elder brother awakened 
to find himself in chains. " Why am I here and thus? " was 
his first exclamation. At the moment, he was unconscious of 
his crime. It is not necessary to describe the horror and 
agony of this miserable victim of the rum dealer. He was 
15 



170 THE LITTLE GOLDEN-HAIRED BOY. 

tried for the murder of his little golden-haired brother, and 
hung. 

Question. — Was this youth the only guilty person deserving 
punishment ? Let the children of District and Sunday 
Schools decide this question. Judges and Juries may be 

enlightened by their decision. 



DEMORALIZATION OF THE REBEL ARMIES. 



Those who study carefully every sign showing the condition 
of the rebel confederacy, that they may judge better of the 
time of its approaching downfall, will do well to read atten- 
tively the extract which we make prominent here. — New York 
Times, Oct. loth, 1864. 

[From the Richmond Enquirer, Oct. 6th, 1864.] 

" Do you ask for an explanation of these rapidly occurring 
disasters in a portion of the State where the Confederates 
until the 19th ult., never suffered defeat? It is simply and 
easily given. We have two enemies to contend with in the 
valley, one of whom has never been beaten since Noah drank 
too much wine and lay in his tent. These enemies are the 
Federal Army and John Barley Corn. Sherman has been 
largely reinforced, and the valley is running with apple 
brandy. Here is the key to our reverses : Officers of high 
position, yes, of very high position, have, to use an honest 
English word, been drunk, too drunk to command themselves, 
much less an army, a division, a brigade, or a regiment. And 
when officers in high command are in the habit of drinking to 
excess, we may be sure their pernicious example will be fol- 
lowed by those in lower grades. The cavalry forces that had 
been operating in the valley and flitting hither and thither 
along the Potomac and Shenandoah, were already demoralized, 
and since their last visit to Maryland, they have been utterly 
worthless. They were in the habit of robbing friend and foe 
alike. They have been known to strip Virginian women of all 
they had — widows whose sons were in the army — and then 
burn their houses." 

Remarks. — When will the world, especially the Christian 
part of it, learn the great truth, that all use of intoxicating 
liquor as a beverage, is abuse. Talk of " excess " in the use 



NOTE BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 



NEW YORK STATE TEMPERANCE SOCIETY, 

07i giving publicity to the controversy called forth by the publication 

of DR. SEWALL'S PLATES, exhibiting the effects of 

intoxicating liquors on the human stomach, from 

health to death by delirium tremens. 

(See page — .) 

The Executive Committee agree with Prof. Dean, that 
the line which divides temperate from intemperate drinking", 
" has not yet been drawn; 1 

According to Dr. Sewall, the taking " a glass of mint sling 
in the morning, of toddy at night, or two or three glasses of 
Madeira at dinner, is (in common parlance), termed tempe- 
rate drinking, and as connected with Plate 2, in his work. 

According to the London Press, the " Standard 11 the 
taking of half a dozen glasses of wine, a glass of brandy and 
water, or two glasses of ale daily, is temperate drinking. 

According to Dr. Hun, the .drinking just so much as pro- 
motes the comfort and well-being of an individual, at any par- 
ticular time, of which each person must be his own judge, is 
temperate drinking. 

E. C. Delavan maintains (as Dr. Hun remarks), that there 
is no such thing as temperate drinking: that alcohol in all 
its forms is poisonous; that alcoholic drinks, when taken (in 
health), are always injurious; consequently there can be no 
temperance in the use of these drinks (as a beverage in 
health,) any more than of arsenic; or in other words, all use 
(as a beverage in health), is abuse. 

Others, there are, whose definition would include a much 
greater quantity than either the first or second of the pre- 
ceding definitions predicated on a fixed quantity is safer 
(and safer because the quantity is fixed, however frightful 
that quantity may be), that a definition predicated on a 
moveable scale, capable of a progressive adjustment, from the 
first inceptive sip, to the deep potations of the confirmed 
drunkard; a definition suited to every sta<re of inebriety, 
and which imposes no restraint on either youth or manhood, 
at any stage through the whole descent of that traveled 
road from total abstinence, through moderate drinking, 
quite to drunkenness. 



DEMORALIZATION OF THE REBEL ARMIES. 173 

of a poison ? How preposterous ! How fatal to true temper- 
ance is such a belief. About thirty years since, Lieut. Gen. 
Scott said to me, I had rather march at the head of 5,000 
thorough total abstinence men, against 20,000 topers or drink- 
ers of strong drink, than against 20,000 topers, with 20,000 
topers. This government now, by laws of Congress, allow nc 
spirit rations in the army or navy. How far our recent victo- 
ries can be attributed to this prohibition, Lieut. Gen. Grant 
can tell better than I. EDWARD C. DELAVAN. 

October 18 to, 1864. 



FRANKLIN A WATER DRINKER. 



" My companion at the press," says Franklin, speaking of 
his life as a journeyman printer in London, " drank every day 
a pint of strong beer before breakfast, a pint at breakfast 
with his bread and cheese, a pint between breakfast and 
dinner, a pint at dinner, a pint in the afternoon about six 
o'clock, and another when he had done his day's work. I 
thought it a detestable custom, but it was necessary he sup- 
posed to drink strong beer, that he might be strong to labor. 
I endeavored to convince him that the bodily strength afforded 
by beer, could only be in proportion to the grain or flour dis- 
solved in the water of which it was made ; that there was 
more flour in a penny's worth of bread ; and therefore, if he 
could eat that with a pint of water, it would give him more 
strength than a quart of beer. He drank on however, and 
had four or five shillings sterling to pay out of his wages 
every Saturday night for that vile liquor, an expense which I 
was free from ; and thus these poor devils keep themselves 
always under. (See Dr. Franklin's Life, written by himself.) 

Remarks. — Dr. Franklin was not a " charlatan" he was not 
" a fanatic" he was not a man to teach "fallacies" but great 
truths. It is said the people of England drink enough strong 
beer yearly to float the whole British navy. There is no per- 
manent strength gained in the use of strong beer or any kind 
of intoxicating drink. Their use, even in the greatest mode- 
ration, tends to weakness, disease, misery, poverty and prema- 
ture death. " Perhaps," says the New York Observer, the 
best definition of the brink of ruin, is the brink of the goblet J 7 

E. C. D. 



No. 12. 



LETTEE 



MR, DELAVAN TO GOVERNOR KLNG. 



Office New York State Temperance Society, # 
Albany, N. Y., January 21st, 1857! ) 

To Ms Excellency, John A. King, 

Governor of the State of New York: 

Dear Sir — Your elevation to the high and responsible 
station of the Chief Magistrate of the Empire State, so 
greatly multiplies your influence over all classes and ages of 
your fellow-citizens, that I confess myself desirous that your 
sympathies and active co-operation should be enlisted on the 
side of the cause of Temperance. With this motive, I take 
the liberty to ask you to read this communication, which 
cites a part of the proofs that this movement has already 
achieved very considerable results for the public good. I lay 
these facts before you with more encouragement and hope, 
because I am of the impression that, to statements which are 
honestly submitted, you will listen with candor, even when 
you are not prepared to endorse the reasoning and inferences 
which accompany them. It is by calm and kind appeals to 
the judgments and consciences of men, that so many, both of 
the humble and the great, have been brought to advocate and 
support the cause of Abstinence and Prohibition. And it is 
on such means that the friends of the cause should rely to 
bring distinguished public men, like your Excellency, among 
the number. 



LETTER FROM MR. DELAVAN 

EFFECTS OF PROHIBITION OX CRIME IN NEW YORK. 

When some of our opponents survey the field as it is now, 
they say that there never was more selling in the State t^ian 
at present, and that therefore all the efforts of Temperance 

I men have wrought no good, but have made even matters 
worse. But this is not fair. They should revert to the 
period when the Prohibitory Law was in force, by which the 
commitments for crime in this State were reduced two-fifths 
from the number under the License Law. The operations of 
] the Prohibitory Law were such, that during the six months 
1 after it came in force, there were in nine counties but 2898 
commitments for crime, compared with 4960 in the same 
counties during the same period under the License Law 
The fearful and sudden increase in drunkenness since that 
law was laid prostrate, so far from proving that the efforts of 
Temperance men are of no avail, only demonstrates the 
deplorable effects of thwarting those efforts. For if that law 
had been sustained by the Court of Appeals, as it had already 
been by a majority of the Judges of the Supreme Court, 
what a vast abatement would it by this time have wrought 
in Intemperance, Pauperism and Crime ! And perhaps the 
disastrous consequences which resulted from annulling that 
law were necessary to work a complete conviction of the 
wisdom and policy of Prohibition. 

But the enactment, and the temporary enforcement of the 
Prohibitory Law in this State, and the enactment and per- 
manent enforcement of such a law in Connecticut, Vermont, 
New Hampshire, and other States, is only one of the fruits 
| of the Temperance Reform. 

It was stated by the Executive Committee of this Society, 
in their Report* to the Meeting on the 18th of December, 
that " during the twenty-nine years since your Society was 
organized, such a reformation has been wrought in the habits 
of the civilized world as has never before been witnessed in 
the same length of time." I think that facts will fully bear 
out this statement. 

LIQUORS OX THE TABLE AND SIDE-BOARD. 

L When the Temperance Reform began, thirty years ago, 
♦See Prohibitionist for December, 1856, p. 90, vol. iii. 



TO GOVERNOR KING. 177 

every family who could afford it had intoxicating liquors 
on the table and side-board. These included not only wine, 
but brandy and rum. Every guest and every caller was in- 
vited to drink, and it was about as uncivil not to drink as 
not to invite to drink. In this respect the usages of society 
have undergone a striking change. The family tables which 
have liquors are now the exception. In many of these cases 
they are furnished only when guests are present, and the 
liquors are almost universally limited to wines. 

DRINKING USAGES AMONG FARMERS. 

2. Hardly a farm in the land was worked without spirits ; 
and such a case was a matter of remark, and was pointed to 
as an evidence of niggardliness in the owner. It would now 
be a matter of unfavorable remark, if a farmer should furnish 
his workmen with intoxicating liquors. Not one in a thou- 
sand, if one in ten thousand does it. 

3. Every farmer, having an orchard, had a cider mill, or 
used his neighbor's. Cider was as plenty in the farmer's 
cellar, as water in his well ; and it was drank in place of 
water by men, women and children. The falling off in the 
use of cider is, of itself, a striking and conclusive proof of the 
revolution which the Temperance Reform has wrought in the 
drinking usages of society. 

4. Intoxicating liquors were almost universally brought 
into our workshops. Now, almost never. 

AMONG SAILORS AND TRAVELERS. 

5. Time was when nearly every merchant vessel which 
sailed on the ocean, the rivers or lakes, furnished spirit 
rations to the men. I doubt if any do so now. This change 
is very marked as to fishery and whaling ships ; a class of 
facts which, a mutual friend informs me, your Excellency is 
well acquainted with. 

6. When the ocean steamships began to cross the Atlantic, 
their tables were supplied with spirits as free as water. This 
was the case in the Great Western, when I crossed in her, in 
one of her earliest voyages, in 1839. When off Great Britain 
the passengers held a meeting (Lord Lennox in the chair), 
and, to the number of one hundred and twenty, signed a 
petition to the owners, at Bristol, requesting them to discon- 



178 LETTER FROM MR. DELAVAN 

tinue this custom. It happened to the undersigned, to be 
appointed to present said petition. I did so ; and the liquors 
disappeared thereafter from the table. I believe every steam- 
ship now adopts the same rule. 

7. At the period referred to, there was not a hotel table or 
steamboat table at which ardent spirits were not furnished 
free. It would have been considered as unfurnished, as if it 
was without bread or salt. Now there is not a public table 
in the land where intoxicating liquor is furnished gratuitously. 
And probably not one person out of twenty, at our public 
tables, calls for such liquors. 

REFORMATION OF THE DRUNKARD. 

8. When the reform began, it was thought that moderation 
would save the drunkard. Since that time, even temperance 
advocates have supposed that the avoidance of ardent spirits 
would save him. Now it is pretty generally admitted, on all 
hands, that the drunkard is safe only when he abstains 
entirely from all liquors, wines included. It being admitted 
that abstinence is of vital consequence to the drunkard, it 
follows that it is the duty of others to abstain, so as not only 
to remove every temptation, but to strengthen him by the 
force of example. 

9. The testimony of convicts that their crime began with 
drink ; and of drunkards generally, that they learned the 
habit from their parents, or from the example of professing 
Christians, have united with science to impress upon all 
parents, and all good men, the solemn conviction that as 
Abstinence is the only safe practice for themselves, so it is 
the only proper example for others. 

PUBLIC SENTIMENT AS TO THEIR HEALTHFULNESS. 

10. The belief that all use of intoxicating liquors as a 
beverage is injurious, and never beneficial, has pretty generally 
taken the place of the idea that the moderate use of it is safe, 
and almost entirely of the error that such liquors are essen- 
tial to health as a beverage. 

11. Since the Temperance agitation commenced, the most 
eminent physicians of this and other countries have de- 
clared by thousands that intoxicating liquors are not only 
unnecessary as a beverage, but positively injurious. That 



TO GOVERNOR KING. 179 

e>7en in sickness it is rarely necessary ; while in health it is 
always injurious, impairing the functions of the brain, the 
stomach, and indeed the whole human organism. # 

IX COXXECTIOX WITH RELIGIOUS SOLEMNITIES. " 

12. Thirty years ago, liquors were brought forward as a 
matter of course, at weddings, at christenings, and even at 
funerals. After burial, the friends returned to the house of 
the mourners to drink. Now intoxicating liquors are the ex- 
ception at weddings, seldom furnished at christenings, and 
almost never at funerals. 

13. It used to be thought that the Bible favored the use 
of intoxicating liquors as a beverage. Now the idea is ex- 
tensively prevalent that where the Bible approves of wine as 
a beverage, it means the unintoxicating wine of the cluster, « 
the press, and the vat, while intoxicating wine is condemned 
as " the mocker." 

14. When nfteeen years ago I instituted an inquiry as to 
the kind of wine, intoxicating or unintoxicating, which it was 
proper to be used at the Communion, great numbers of 
church members were sorely troubled for fear of harm to the 
solemn rites of Religion. Very many journals, both religious 
and political, denounced the movement. Within a few months 
I have caused, on my own responsibility, some 20,000 
pamphlets to be issued on the same subject, and not one word 
of disapprobation has yet reached me. 

HABITS AND SENTIMENTS OF THE CLERGY. 

15. An aged Divine, now living, well acquainted with the 
clergy in Albany and vicinity, once drew my attention to the 
fact that, some thirty years ago, every clergyman when he 

* Since this letter was written, the following resolution, which goes 
beyond any expression which has heretofore emanated from any large body 
of the Faculty, was passed unanimously by the Medical Society of the 
State of New York, 4th February, 1857 : 

i( Resolved — That in view of the ravages made upon the morals, health 
and property of the people of this State by the use &f Alcoholic drinks, it 
is the opinion of this Medical Society that the moral, sanitary and pecuni- 
ary condition of the State would be promoted by the passage of a Prohi- 
bitory Liquor Law." 

For a detailed account of this important event in the Temperance world, 
and which, strange to say, was not even mentioned in any newspaper report 
of the society's proceedings, see the Prohibitionist for March, 1857, vol. iv., 
p. 20. 



180 LETTER FROM MR. DELAVAN 

made his pastoral visits was invited to drink. If he visited 
twenty of his parishioners, he was invited to drink, and some- 
times did drink, twenty times. The same Divine found that 
fifty per cent, of the clergy, within a circuit of fifty miles, died 
drunkards. * Now it is only a small proportion of the clergy 
who drink a drop ; and those who do drink show themselves 
extremely sensitive when the fact is alluded to in print, as if 
they regarded it as a reflection upon their standing as Minis- 
ters of the Gospel. 

16. It is thirty years since, at a large assembly of the 
Ministers of the Gospel, in New England, one of their number, 
impressed with the evils of the Drink-System, urged them to 
adopt a resolution pledging themselves to abstain — not from 
wines — but from Ardent Spirits, while at the convention. It 

* failed. These pious and devoted clergymen could not see why 
they should be called upon to give up a " good creature of 
God." Now there are vast religious bodies, who, were they to 
see one of their ministers drink intoxicating liquors, would be 
affected almost as much as if they were to hear him swear. 

FASHION THE PRESS. 

17. Though few of the rich and fashionable have openly 
professed adherence to the Temperance cause, yet many now 
express their sympathy with it and are beginning to aid it 
pecuniarily, as a movement which inures to the public good. 

*A writer in the New York Observer questions the correctness of the 
statement of an aged clergyman in Albany to Mr. Delavan, that a minister 
of former days was exposed in twenty visits in a day to twenty strong 
drinks, and that fifty per cent, of the ministers in a circuit of fifty miles 
were drunkards. As to the first, every man living, who was in the ministry 
in 1820, knows it was true. Good Dr. Fisher said, in conversing on this 
subject a little before his death, that it was the greatest wonder he was not 
a drunkard; he was in his early ministry so forced to drink, lest he should, 
by refusal, offend his parishioners. The mug of cider or brandy sling were 
brought out at every house. As to the proportion of intemperate ministers, 
this is, no doubt, in general, incorrect; though it was not, as can be con- 
firmed by men living as far back as 1810, in some of our cities. And there 
was no reason why it should not be so. Ministers have the same flesh and 
blood and nerves with other men; and if they will drink poison, why 
should they not suffer ? " Can a minister take fire in his bosom and not be 
burned? Can he walk on hot coals and his feet not be burned?" Thanks 
be to Him who takes care of his church, that the ministry have been 
pulled from the fire ; though sad it is, that some are yet trifling with it, and 
are boasting how strong they are. — Journal of the American Temperance 
Union. 



TO GOVERNOR KING. 18 

Many of our most distinguished citizens have lately given 
large social entertainments without wine ; and this is not so 
significant, as that public opinion sustains and applauds it. 

18. There was a time when the Temperance movement 
was the common theme of ridicule with the press. Now 
there are but few journals, even those which are opposed to 
Prohibition, which do not approve voluntary abstinence, and 
which do not compliment private citizens, or public bodies, 
who give entertainments without intoxicating liquors. 

19. The spirit- ration has been abolished in the army. I 
am of the impression too that it has been diminished in the 
navy.* 

MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS. 

20. Before the Temperance Reform began, and while we 
were ignorant of the nature and effects of strong drink, 
Nathaniel Prime, Lynde Catlin, and others, myself among 
the number, formed a chartered company, with a capital of 
$300,000, for the manufacture of steam engines and other 
heavy iron work. Thinking to do good to the workmen, and 
further the objects of the company, we directed that strong 
beer should be passed, gratis, to every man two or three times 
a day. We soon found that our work was badly done, almost 
every contract was in consequence litigated in the courts, and 
the company failed ; by which failure the company not only 
sunk the whole capital of §300,000, but (to save their own 
credit) ten of the stockholders contributed ten thousand dol- 
lars each, to pay off further liabilities, of which eight thou- 
sand dollars of nry contribution (including my whole stock) 
proved a dead loss. On a review of the whole subject, I 
firmly believe that this catastrophe is mainly ascribable to the 
unfortunate drinking habits which, from the best of motives, 
we ourselves encouraged. 

21. Another company, formed to manufacture nearly the 
same kind of article, and who employed about 100 workmen, 
had their attention drawn to the evils of strong drink among 
operatives. . One of the partners drew up a Total Abstinence 
Pledge, signed it, and induced nearly every workman to 
adopt the same principle. When the step was taken, hardly 
one of the workmen was beforehand in the world, and many 
were in debt. After four years upon the Temperance pnuci 

-tn * Now in the navy. 



1 82 LETTER, FROM MR. DELAVAN 

pie, none were in debt, and many had bought lots of land, 
and erected cottages for their families; and one of the part- 
ners told me that the aggregate amount saved by these 100 
men during the four years since they abandoned strong drink, 
would make capital enough to carry on the business operations 
of the company. 

EFFECTS OF THE REFORM ON NATIONAL WEALTH. 

22. A manufacturer who employed 300 hands, informed 
me that after they all, or nearly all, adopted the Total 
Abstinence principle, the prosperity of the establishment was 
vastly promoted, and that their improved steadiness, fidelity 
and style of workmanship were as good to him as a protective 
duty of twenty-five per cent. At this rate, what sums have 
accrued to the National wealth from the adoption of Temper- 
ance principles by the hundreds of thousands of abstainers ! 

23. The late Abbott Lawrence, that merchant prince and 
public benefactor, and late United States Minister to the 
Court of St. James, was asked before he died, what had 
occasioned the great increase of wealth and prosperity in the 
United States ? He instantly replied : " Our prosperity, in 
my opinion, is greatly owing to the Temperance Reformation. 
The influence of this movement is felt in the workshop, on 
the farm, and in every branch of human industry. Before 
the Temperance Reform was started, a vast number of the 
farms in New England were mortgaged for rum bills, — now 
hardly one." 

24. Until the subject of Temperance was agitated, the 
frauds of the liquor traffic were not suspected. All liquors 
were supposed to be what they pretended to be. Now the 
matter of adulteration, though but partially understood yet, is 
the theme of common conversation even among drinkers. 

25. When the Temperance Reform commenced in this 
State there were about 1100 flour mills, and more than that 
number of distilleries. The population has about doubled 
since that time, and now there are 1464 flour mills and only 
88 distilleries. It must be admitted, however, that the 
distilleries now in operation are on a much larger scale than 
the average of those of the former period. 

CLASSES OF DEALERS WHO HAVE LEFT THE TRAFFIC. 

26. Of the great number of native citizens in the United 



TO GOVERNOR KING. 183 

States who used to sell intoxicating liquors, a vast number 
have left the business. The Temperance agitation has edu- 
cated them to regard the traffic as immoral and degrading. 
It is found in the great cities that seven out of eight of all 
who sell liquor are foreign emigrants. The great majority of 
those who now sell liquor in America are a proof, not that 
the Temperance Reform does nothing, but of what the moral 
sense of our countrymen would have been on this subject, at 
this time, had this reform never been agitated. 

27. Formerly, church members and church officers of all 
our churches used to be engaged in the traffic ; now, vast 
bodies of them denounce the traffic as an immorality; and the 
number of church members, American born citizens, who make 
or sell liquor, is probably not one to five hundred of the 
former proportion. 

28. Witness, as a proof of the effects of the Temperance 
Reform, the growing idea that liquor when offered for sale, 
as a beverage, is a nuisance to be abated like any other 
nuisance. 

29. What but the Temperance agitation has changed 
the policy of so many States ; substituting laws aiming at 
Prohibition, in the place of laws which allowed rum to be 
sold by the authority of the State ? 

PROHIBITION APPLIED TO THE DRUNKARD. 

30. Not only is the moderation theory now abandoned, 
and Total Abstinence held to be essential to the refor- 
mation of the drunkard, but Physicians,* Clergymen and 
Judges agree that Asylums should be established by the 
State for the resort of inebriates, where no strong drinks can 
be procured — which, as far as the drunkard is concerned (of 
whom there are over 50,000 in the State of New York), is an 
emphatic endorsement of the humanity and necessity of pro- 
hibition. The advocates of Temperance extend the same 
principle, and by a general enactment, prohibiting the sale of 
liquors throughout the State, aim to remove the temptation 

* The following resolution was adopted by the Medical Society of the 
State of New York, on the 4th of February, 1817: 

i( Resolved, That this Society commend the object sought to be attained 
by the project for an Asylum for Inebriates, to the favor and earnest sup- 
port, not only of the Legislature of the State, but to the public at large.' 5 



184 LETTER FROM MR. DELAVAN. 

from all who have this habit partially formed, as well as those 
who have it fully formed, and so, by the united influence of 
moral and legal suasion, aim to create such an asylum in every 
household in the land. 

These facts and illustrations might be greatly extended, but 
I forbear. Enough has been said to indicate a vast improve- 
ment in the drinking usages of society. 

THE NEXT STEP IN THE REFORM. 

But it will be said, if the Temperance agitation has done 
so much, why not go right on in the old way, without a re- 
sort to legislation. The same question might be asked of 
gambling, of lotteries and of duelling. A stage is at last 
reached, where legislative enactments are essential. Not that 
moral suasion is to be abandoned, but, in addition to this, the 
public sentiment regarding these evils must be embodied into 
statutory enactments. Of this, those who have used moral 
suasion most, and witn the greatest success, are the most 
profoundly convinced. After obtaining millions of signatures 
to the Total Abstinence Pledge, Ireland was ripe for Prohibi- 
tion. But it was not applied. The golden opportunity was 
lost; and the consequence is, that nearly as much liquor is 
drank in Ireland now, as before Father Mathew commenced 
his remarkable labors. The language of this beloved and re- 
nowned Apostle of Temperance, penned a year or two before 
his death, and published in the Frohibitionist for July, 1855, 
should teach a solemn lesson to the world on the subject of 
Temperance : 

" The question of prohibiting the sale of ardent spirits, 
and the many other intoxicating drinks which are to be found 
in our country, is not new to me; the principle of Prohibition 
seems to me to be the only safe and certain remedy for the 
evils of Intemperance. This opinion has been strengthened 
and confirmed by the hard labor of more than twenty years in 
the Temperance cause. I rejoice in the welcome intelligence 
of the formation of a Maine Law Alliance, which I trust will 
be the means under God of destroying this fruitful source of 
Crime and Pauperism." 

The friends of Prohibition in Great Britain are now making 
up for lost time ; they are pressing on steadily, firmly and 



TO GOVERNOR KING. 185 

perseveringly, and the triumph of Prohibition is only a ques- 
tion of time. 

OUGHT NOT EVERY GOOD MAN TO CO-OPERATE ? 

When the Temperance Societies began, the general view of / 
religious men was, that the work should be done through the 
churches. I submit that, in the main, what has been done, 
has been done by the churches. The Temperance Reform 
originated in the churches. If I may refer to myself in this j 
connection, it was a devout and learned minister of the Gospel 
who converted me to the movement. If, since that time, I 
have been enabled to do more in my way than some of my 
fellow citizens, it is only because Providence has placed me in 
circumstances to do so. But it is the fervent, effectual prayer 
of the righteous, and the widow's mite, offered in faith, which 
points to the secret of the success of temperance. Nor can I 
ever review the history of this benign and arduous enterprise 
without being deeply and profoundly penetrated with the con- 
viction, that the great motive power, from the first and always, 
has been the Grace and Spirit of Almighty God, as shed 
abroad in the hearts of thousands of His pious servants, both 
men and women, and who are to be found in all religious de- 
nominations throughout the Christian world. 

It is the religious sentiment of the country; it is the divine 
principle of self-denial, taught by our blessed Savior, which 
has wrought whatever has been done for this reform, and 
which I have ever regarded as the handmaid of Religion. 
There are good men who still think this work should be re- 
stricted to the churches, or perhaps to their own particular 
church. I put it to their hearts, would they go back to where 
we were thirty years ago ? Would they have undone what 
has been done ? And ought not every believer in Christian- 
ity, to whatever particular church he may belong, to unite as 
one man — in pressing forward with yet greater vigor, with the 
united energy of faith and prayer and works, by his example, 
his influence, and by contributions of his substance — the cause 
of personal Abstinence and legislative Prohibition ? And if 
this is true of the Christian in private life, how important to 
the poor drunkard, to his wife, his children, and the whole 
community, do such duties become, when, as in the case of your 
Excellency, the private citizen is clothed by the people with 



186 LETTER FROM MR. DELAVAN TO GOV. KING. 

great authority and official power ! So sacred and important 
are the interests at stake, and so great is now your Excel- 
lency's influence for good, that I feel that I have not exceeded 
the privilege of your humblest fellow-citizen in attempting to 
enlist your personal and official cooperation on the side of a 
cause which has been so signally approved and blessed of God, 
and which redounds so palpably to the physical, the moral 
and the religious interests of the human family. 

I remain, with great respect, your Excellency's friend and 
obedient servant, 

EDWARD C. DELAVAN, 
President New York State Temperance Society. 



No. 13. 

+4 



TEMPERANCE LECTURE No. II, 

BY REV. DR. E. XOTT, 

PRESIDENT UNION COLLEGE, SCHENECTADY. 



RECAPITULATION— GENERAL APPEAL IN 
BEHALF OF TEMPERANCE. 

Appeal to Parents — to Youth — to "Women — Conclusion. 

In the preceding lectures, we have shown that a kind of 
wine has existed from great antiquity, which was injurious 
to health and subversive of morals; that these evils, since 
the introduction of distillation, have been greatly increased; 
that half the lunacy, three-fourths of the pauperism, and 
five-sixths of the crime with which the nation is visited, is 
owing to intemperance; that there are believed to be live 
hundred thousand drunkards in the republic, and that thou- 
sands die of drunkenness annually. We have also shown 
that drunkenness results from moderate drinking, and that 
drunkenness must continue, by a necessity of nature, as 
long as habitual moderate drinking is continued; that it is 
not the drinking of water or milk, or any other necessary 
or nutritive beverage, but of intoxicating liquors only, that 
produces drunkenness; that as the existing system of 
moderate drinking occasions all the drunkenness that exists, 
so that system must be abandoned, or its expense in muscle 
and sinew and mind, provided for by this, and all future 
generations; that even moderate drinking is now more 
dangerous than formerly, because intoxicating drinks are 
more deadly — to the poison of alcohol, generated by fer- 
mentation, other poison having been added by drugging, 



1 CQ LECTURE BY DP,. E. SOTT. 

an that alike to intoxicating liquors, whether fermented or 
distilled. We have enumerated the kinds of poison made 
use of in the products of the still and of the brew-house, 
and met the objection that the use of wine was sanctioned 
by the Bible, by showing that there were different kinds of 
e, some of which were good and some bad, and that the 
former only were commended in the Bible; that though it 
were allowable to use pure wines in Palestine, it would not 
follow that it was allowable to use mixed wines here, where 
in tenser poison- exist, and where the use of wine lea 
the use of brandy, and the use of brand}" to drunker;: 
We have shown that even in Palestine it was good not tc 
drink wine, when it caused a brother to offend, and there- 
fore not good elsewhere, and especially here, and at the 
present time, when the tremendous evils of intemperance in 
some classes of community render total abstinence befitting 
in all classes, in conformity to that great law of love which 
Jesus Christ promulgated, and in conformity to which the 
apostles of Jesus Christ acted, and the disciples of Jesus 
Christ are bound to act. 

We have shown that the books of Nature and Kevela 
both proceeded from God, and both contain, though 
unequal degrees of clearness, an expression of his will: 
that the import of the one is discovered by reading and 
meditation, of the other by observation and experiment; 
in this latter oracle mankind are distinctly taught, 
that aliments restore the waste of the human organism, 
but that stimulants impair the sensibility on which 
operate, and hence that the latter are not intended for ha- 
bitual use, that they who so use intoxicating liquors violate 
an established law of nature, and that the drunkenness, 
disease and death, which result from such use, are the 
penalty which follows, by the appointment of God, th- 
lation of that law; that God wills the happiness of his 
creatures, and when the authority of the Bible is plead in 
behalf of any usage that leads to misery, it may be known 
that the Bible is plead in error in behalf of such usage; 
that in the present instance, and so far as the wines of 
commerce are concerned, to appeal to the Bible as auth i 
is absurd ; that the Bible knows nothing and teach- 
thing directly, in relation to these wines of commerce — the 



LECTURE BY DR. E. NOTT. 189 

same being either a brandied or drugged article, never in 
use in Palestine; that in relation to these spurious articles 
the book of nature must alone be consulted, and that being 
consulted, their condemnation will be found on many a page, 
inscribed in characters of wrath. 

In the view of these and other truths, we have addressed 
ourselves to the manufacturer and vender of these legalized 
poisons; and there are yet others to whom, in the view of 
the same truths, we would, in conclusion, address ourselves. 

Fathers, mothers, heads of families, if not prepared at 
this late hour to change your mode of life, are you not pre- 
pared to encourage the young, particularly your children, 
to change theirs ? Act as you may, yourselves, do you not 
desire that they should act the part of safety ? Can you not 
tell them, and truly tell them, that our manner of life is 
attended with less peril than your own ? Can you not tell 
them, and truly tell them, that however innocent the use 
even of pure wine may be, in the estimation of those who 
use it, that its use in health is never necessary; that excess 
is always injurious, and that in the habitual use of even 
such wine there is always danger of excess; that of the 
brandied and otherwise adulterated wines in use, it cannot 
be said, in whatever quantity, that they are innocent; that 
the temptation to adulterate is very great, detection is very 
difficult, and that entire safety is to be found only in total 
abstinence ? Can you not truly tell them this ? Will you 
not tell them this ? And having told them, should they, in 
obedience to your counsel, relinquish at once the use of all 
intoxicating liquors, would their present condition, you 
yourselves being judges, would their present condition be 
less secure, or their future prospects less full of promise, on 
that account ? Or would the remembrance, that the stand 
they took was taken at your bidding, either awaken in your 
bosoms misgivings now, or regrets hereafter ? Especially, 
would it do this as life declines, and you approach your final 
dissolution and last account ? Then, when standing on 
the verge of that narrow isthmus, which separates the 
future from the past, and connects eternity with time; then, 
when casting the last lingering look back upon that world 
to which you are about to bid adieu forever, will the 
thought that you are to leave behind you a family trained to 



190 LECTURE BY DF ii. NOTT. 

temperance not only, but pledg d also to total abstinence, 
will that thought, then, think you, plant one thorn in the 
pillow of sickness, or add one pang to the agonies of death ? 
! no, it is not this thought, but the thought of dying and 
leaving behind a family of profligate children, to nurture 
other children no less profligate, in their turn to nurture 
others, — thus transmitting guilt and misery to a remote 
posterity; it is this thought, and thoughts like this, in con- 
nection with another thought, suggested by those awful 
words, " For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visit- 
ing the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, to the 
third and fourth generation, of them that hate me;" — it is 
thoughts like these, and not the thought of leaving behind 
a family pledged to total abstinence, that will give to life's 
last act a sadder coloring, and man's last hour a denser 
darkness. Between these two conditions of the dying, if 
held within our offer, who of us would hesitate? 

Ye children of moderate drinking parents; children of so 
many hopes, and solicitudes and prayers; the sin of drun- 
kenness apart, the innocence of abstinence apart, here are 
two classes of men, and two plans of life, each proffered 
to your approbation, and submitted for your choice: The 
one class use intoxicating liquor, moderately indeed, still 
they use intoxicating liquor, in some or many of its forms; 
the other class use it in none of them: The one class, in 
consequence of such use of intoxicating liquor, furnish all 
the drunkenness, three-fourths of all the pauperism and five- 
sixths of all the crime, under the accumulating and accu- 
mulated weight of which our country already groans. Y( 
in consequence of such restricted use of intoxicating liquors, 
the one class pays an annual tribute in muscle and sinew, 
in intellect and virtue, aye, in the souls of men; a mighty 
tribute, embodied in the persons of inebriates, taken from 
the ranks of temperate drinkers and delivered over to the 
jail, the mad-house, the house of correction, and even the 
house of silence! 

The other class pays no such tribute; no, nor even a 
portion of it. The other burthens of community they share 
indeed, in common with their brethren; a portion of their 
earnings goes even to provide and furnish those abodes of 
woe and death, which intoxicating liquors crowd with 



LECTURE BY DR. E. NOTT. 191 

inmates; but the inmates themselves are all, all trained in 
the society, instructed in the maxims, moulded by the cus- 
toms, and finally delivered up from the ranks of the oppo- 
site party — the moderate drinking party. 

Now, beloved youth, which of these two modes of life 
will you adopt? To which of these two classes will you 
attach yourselves ? Which think } T ou is the safest, which 
most noble, patriotic, Christian ? In one word, which will 
insure the purest bliss on earth, and afford the fairest pros- 
pect of admission into heaven ? 

For the mere privilege of using intoxicating liquors mode- 
rately, are you willing to contribute your proportion annually 
to people the poor-house, the prison-house, and the grave-yard? 
For such a privilege, are you willing to give up to death, 
or even to delirium-tremens, a parent this year, a wife, a 
child or brother or sister the next, and the year thereafter a 
friend or neighbor ? Are you willing to do this, and having 
done it, are you further willing, as a consequence, to hear 
the mothers', the wives', the widows', and the orphans 7 
wailings, on account of miseries inflicted by a system de- 
liberately adopted by your choice, sustained by your exam- 
ple, and perpetuated by your influence ? Nor to hear alone ; 
are you willing to see also the beggar's rags, the convict's 
fetters, and those other and more hideous forms of guilt 
and misery, the product of intemperance, which liken men 
to demons, and earth to hell ? 

That frightful outward desolation, apparent in the person 
and the home of the inebriate, is but an emblem of a still 
more frightful inward desolation. The comfortless abode, 
the sorrow-stricken famihv, the tattered garments, the 
palsied tread, the ghastly countenance and loathsome aspect, 
of the habitual brutal drunkard, fill us with abhorrence. 
We shun his presence, and shrink instinctively from his 
polluting touch. But what are all these sad items, which 
affect the outer man only, in comparison with the blighted 
hopes, the withered intellect, the debased propensities, the 
brutal appetites, the demoniac passions, the defiled con- 
science; in one word, in comparison with the sadder moral 
items which complete the frightful spectacle of a soul in 
ruins; a soul deserted of God, possessed by demons, and 



lc J - ItKCTTBE BY DR. E- tfOTT. 

from which the last lineaments of its Maker' - g have 

been utterly effaced; a sonl scathed and riven, and standing 

:"-"-':*- :.':'r.- iv .-,5 :: — -;;*_ \ir:r :.::-. --;-.;; :'.::i :;;^i::-.:. z::/A 
its rains, a monument of wrath, and a warning" to the nni- 

Be not deceived, nor fear to take the dimensions of the 

r~: - '.-'■-: Az-:r.^:\. :r :: L:-:k 'A?r_ :Us::;7-:-: ::. ::r rare. 
which yon are ahont to arm yourselves again si Not the 
solid rock withstands forever the tonch of water even, 
mnch less the living fibre that of alcohol, or those other and 
intenser poisons mingled with it, in those inebriating 
liqnors of which a moiety of the nation drinks. The habit- 
ual nse of snch liqnors in small quantities prepare- 
way for their nse in larger quantities, and yet larger quan- 
tities progressively, till inebriation is produced. 
-it : ' ::--~::;- : :: :' :::■,-":■-: i - is rrrT :s:er '*:■=. tiere:' :e. :o 
::i':~..i:e -;--- n -xz:v.~\ z. Ei:t:::t.- i:_i-r;l :irif 7.1 :.y 
be; but they are exceptions merely. The rule is other 
If you live an habitual drinker of such liquors, you ought 
to calculate to die a confirmed drunkard: and that 
children, and your children's children, should they follow 
your example, will die confirmed drunkards also. And if 
life shall be prolonged to them, and the; will 

s" iis- "::ie-s :ie :-;"rse :: l:^":-- s::,-,il * - :'..:■..:: T -~ 1 

In the view of these facts and arguments which 
subject before you presents, make up your minds, make up 
y: -.:: :.:':. is iA ' z:\~-~ \~A A--Az ;I :.r s: s:-v '-"':. r::irr 
7:': :--r t'/':::: -;->r -.* r.r —\-\: ::.e "~ .•/:::: "::•/- r/. ~ Jierare 
use of intoxicating liquors, as bought and sold, and drank 
z"i-y "s :it ijr :•/..: r_r :;::st rrfnrrS :"._:-: r.-.\:s: result 
therefrom. Are yon willing to do this ? and if you are 
not, stop, — stop while you may, and where you can. In 
:V!s :ss:er_: :: Z- : r- :;:r:e is z: ii .•/.:-— .-7 :: :\:se. ::. : :-r_:ral 
resting place. The movement once commenced, Is ever 
onward and downward. The thirst created is quenci 
the appetite induced insatiable. You may not livr - 
plete the process — but this know, that it is natnrally pro- 
gressive, and that with every successive sip from the : 
chalice, it advances, imperceptibly indeed, still it adva 
towards completion. Yon demented sot, once a moo 



LECTURE BY DR. E. NOTT. 193 

drinker, occupied the ground you now occupy, and looked 
down on former sots, as you, a moderate drinker, now look 
down on him, and as future moderate drinkers may yet 
look down on you, and wonder; 

"Facilis decensus averni." 

Let it never be forgotten that we are social beings. No 
man liveth to himself; on the contrary, grouped together in 
various ways, each acts, and is acted on by others. Though 
living at a distance of so many generations, we feel even 
yet, and in its strength, the effect of the first transgression. 

Now, as formerly, it is the nature of vice, as well as 
virtue, to extend and perpetuate itself. Now, as formerly, 
the existing generation is giving the impress of its charac- 
ter to the generation which is to follow it — and now, as 
formerly, parents are by their conduct and their counsel, 
either weaving crowns to signalize their offspring in the 
Heavens, or forging chains to be worn by them in hell. 

Hearer, time is on the wing; death is at hand; act now, 
therefore, the part that you will in that hour approve, and 
reprobate the conduct you will then condemn. 

It has not been usual for the speaker, as it has for some 
others, to bespeak the influence of those who constitute the 
most numerous, as well as most efficient part, of almost 
every assembly, where self-denials are called for, or ques- 
tions of practical duty discussed. And yet, no one is more 
indebted than myself to the kind of influence in question. 

Under God, I owe my early education, nay, all that I 
have been, or am, to the counsel and tutelage of a pious 
mother. It was, peace to her sainted spirit, it was her 
monitory voice that first taught my young heart to feel that 
there was danger in the intoxicating cup, and that safety 
lay in abstinence. 

And as no one is more indebted than myself to the kind 
of influence in question, so no one more fully realizes how 
decisively it bears upon the destinies of others. 

Full well I know, that by woman came the apostacy of 

Adam, and by woman the recovery through Jesus. It was 

a woman that imbued the mind and formed the character of 

Moses, Israel's deliverer — it was a woman that led the 

17 



194 LECTURE BY DR. E. NOTT. 

choir, and gave back the response of that triumphal pro 
cession, which went forth to celebrate with timbrels, on the 
banks of the Red Sea, the overthrow of Pharoah — it was a 
woman that put Sisera to flight, that composed the song of 
Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, and judged in 
righteousness, for years, the tribes of Israel — it was a 
woman that defeated the wicked counsels of Ham an, deli- 
vered righteous Mordecai, and saved a whole people from 
utter desolation. 

And not now to speak of Semiramis at Babylon, of 
Catharine of Russia, or of those Queens of England, whose 
joyous reign constitute the brightest periods of British 
history, or of her, the young and lovely, the patron of learning 
and morals, who now adorns the throne of the sea-girt Isles; 
not now to speak of these, there are others of more sacred 
character, of whom it were admissable even now to speak. 

The sceptre of empire is not the sceptre that best befits 
the hand of woman; nor is the field of carnage her field of 
glory. Home, sweet home, is her theatre of action, her 
pedestal of beauty, and throne of power. Or if seen 
abroad, she is seen to the best advantage, when on errands 
of love, and wearing her robe of mercy. 

It was not woman who slept during the agonies of Geth- 
semane; it was not woman who denied her Lord at the 
palace of Caiaphas; it was not woman who deserted his 
cross on the hill of Calvary. But it was woman that 
dared to testify her respect for his corpse, that procured 
spices for embalming it, and that was found last at night, 
and first in the morning, at his sepulchre. Time has 
neither impaired her kindness, shaken her constancy, or 
changed her character. 

Now, as formerly, she is most ready to enter, and most 
reluctant to leave, the abode of misery. Now, as formerly, 
it is her office, and well it has been sustained, to stay the 
fainting head, wipe from the dim eye the tear of anguish, 
and from the cold forehead the dew of death. 

This is not unmerited praise. I have too much respect 
for the character of woman, to use, even elsewhere, the 
language of adulation, and too much self-respect to use such 
language here. I would not, If I could, persuade those of 



LECTURE BY DR. E. NOTT. 195 

the sex who hear me, to become the public, clamorous 
advocates of even temperance. It is the influence of their 
declared approbation; of their open, willing, visible exam- 
ple, enforced by that soft, persuasive, colloquial eloquence, 
which, in some hallowed retirement and chosen moments, 
exerts such controlling influence over the hard, cold heart 
of man, especially over a husband's, a son's or a brother's 
heart; it is this influence which we need; — an influence 
chiefly known by the gradual, kindly transformation of 
character it produces, and which, in its benign effects, may 
be compared to the noiseless, balmy influence of Spring, 
shedding, as it silently advances, renovation over every hill, 
and dale, and glen, and islet, and changing, throughout the 
whole region of animated nature, Winter's rugged and un- 
sightly forms, into the forms of vernal loveliness and beauty. 
No, I repeat it, I would not, if I could, persuade those of the 
sex who hear me, to become the public clamorous advocates 
of temperance. It is not yours to wield the club of Hercules 
or bend Achilles' bow. But, though it is not, still you have 
a heaven-appointed armour, as well as a heaven approved 
theatre of action. The look of tenderness, the eye of com- 
passion, the lip of entreaty, are yours; and yours, too, are 
the decisions of taste, and yours the omnipotence of fashion. 
You can therefore, — I speak of those who have been the 
favorites of fortune, and who occupy the high places of so- 
ciety,- — you can change the terms of social intercourse and 
alter the current opinions of community. You can re- 
move, at once and forever, temptation from the saloon, the 
drawing-room and the dining-table. This is your empire, 
the empire over which God and the usages of mankind have 
given you dominion. Here, within these limits, and with- 
out transgressing that modest} 7 which is heaven's own gift 
and woman's brightest ornament, you may exert a benign 
and kindly but mighty influence. Here you have but to 
speak the word, and one chief source of the mother's, the 
wives', and the widow's sorrows, will, throughout the circle 
in which you move, be dried up forever. Nor throughout 
that circle only. The families around you and beneath you 
will feel the influence of your example, descending on them 
in blessings like the dews of Heaven that descend on the 



196 LECTURE BY DR. E. NOTT. 

mountains of Zion; and drunkenness, loathsome, brutal 
drunkenness, driven by the moral power of your decision, 
from all the abodes of reputable society, will be compelled 
to exist, if it exist at all, only among those vulgar and rag- 
ged wretches, who, shunning the society of woman, herd 
together in the bar-room, the oyster cellar and the grog- 
gery. 

This, indeed, were a mighty triumph, and this, at least, 
you can achieve. Why, then, should less than this be 
achieved ? To purify the conscience, to bind up the broken- 
hearted, to remove temptation from the young, to minister 
consolation to the aged, and kindle joy in every bosom 
throughout her appointed theatre of action, befits alike a 
woman's and a mother's agency, — and since God has put it 
in your power to do so much, are you willing to be respon- 
sible for the consequences of leaving it undone ? 

Are you willing to see this tide of woe and death, whose 
flow you might arrest, roll onward by you to posterity, 
increasing as it rolls forever ? 

0! no, you are not, I am sure you are not; and if not, 
then, ere you leave these altars, lift up your heart to God, 
and, in his strength, form the high resolve to purify from 
drunkenness this city. And however elsewhere others may 
hesitate, and waver, and defer, and temporize, take you the 
open, noble stand of abstinence; and, having taken it, cause 
it by your words, and by your deeds, to be known on earth 
and told in Heaven, that mothers here have dared to do 
their duty, their whole duty, and that, within the precincts of 
that consecrated spot over which their balmy, hallowed 
influence extends, the doom of drunkenness is sealed. 

Nor mothers only; in this benign and holy enterprise, 
the daughter and the mother alike are interested. 

Ye young, might the speaker be permitted to address 
you, as well as your honored parents, and those teachers, 
their assistants, whose delightful task it is to bring forward 
the unfolding germs of thought, and teach the young idea 
how to shoot — might the speaker, whose chief concernment 
hitherto has been the education of the young, be permitted 
to address you, he would bespeak your influence, your 
urgent, persevering influence, in behalf of a cause so pure, 



LECTURE BY DR. E. NOTT. 197 

so full of mercy, and so every way befitting your age, your 
sex, your character. 

! could the speaker make a lodgment, an effectual lodg- 
ment, in behalf of temperance, within those young, warm, 
generous, active hearts within his hearing, or rather within 
the city where it is his privilege to speak, who this side of 
Heaven could calculate the blessed, mighty, enduring con- 
sequence? Could this be done, then might the eye of angels 
rest with increased complacency on this commercial metropo- 
lis,* already signalized by Christian charity, as well as radi- 
ant with intellectual glory; — but then lit up anew with fire 
from off virtue's own altar, and thus caused to become, 
amid the surrounding desolation which intemperance has 
occasioned, more conspicuously than ever, an asylum of 
mercy to the wretched, and a beacon* light of promise to the 
wanderer. 

Then from this favored spot, as from some great central 
source of power, encouragement might be given and con- 
fidence imparted to the whole sisterhood of virtue, and a 
redeeming influence sent forth, through many a distant 
town and hamlet, to mingle with other and kindred influ- 
ences in effecting throughout the land, among the youth of 
both sexes,' that moral renovation called for, and which, 
when realized, will be at once the earnest and the anticipa- 
tion of millennial glory. 

! could we gain the young, — the young who have no 
inveterate prejudices to combat, no established habits to 
overcome; could we gain the young, we might, after a 
single generation had passed away, shut up the dram-shop, 
the bar-room and the rum selling grocery, and, by shutting 
these up, shut up also the poor-house, the prison-house, and 
one of the broadest and most frequented avenues to the 
charnel house. 

More than this, could we shut up these licensed dispensa- 
ries of crime, disease and death, we might abate the 
severity of maternal anguish, restore departed joys to con- 
jugal affection, silence the cry of deserted orphanage, and 
procure for the poor demented suicide a respite for self- 
inflicted vengeance. 

* Philadelphia. 



198 LECTURE BY DR. E. NOTT. 

This, the gaining of the young to abstinence, would con- 
stitute the mighty fulcrum on which to plant that moral 
lever of power, to raise a world from degradation. 

0! how the clouds would scatter, the prospect brighten, 
and the firmament of hope clear up, could the young be 
gained, intoxicating liquors be banished, and abstinence 
with its train of blessings introduced throughout the earth. 



No. 14. 



EXTRAC T 



PRESIDENT NOTT'S LECTURE No. IX., 



In which he calls attention to Dr. Sewal's Diagrams, which will be found 

on page 20 of this work, closing with " the frightful ravings of 

a poor inebriate who died of the delirium tremens." 



Think not that God is heard only in the book of revelation. 
The book of nature, as well as the book of revelation, is a 
book of God. Both were written by him, and hence David 
bound them up together, and in the 19th Psalm you will find 
a summary of both. 

"The heavens," saith he, "the heavens declare the glory 
of God," and having said this, he adds in unbroken continuity, 
" the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." 

These two books, which David more than thirty centuries 
since bound up together, have not yet been separated, and are 
both, with reverence, now, as formerly, to be consulted; and 
both, consulted on the question now at issue, return the same 
answer. It is the book of nature, however, with which chiefly 
we are now concerned. Let us examine its contents. Let us 
obey its teachings. 

Whatever obscurity there may be elsewhere, here there is 
no obscurity; here there are no opposing phenomena to ex- 
plain — no contradictory testimony to reconcile. After a lapse 



200 EXTRACT FROM PRESIDENT NOTT'S LECT UJ I 

of six thousand years, the original law of God, concerning 
intoxicating poisons, with its awful and unchanged penalty, 
stands out to view, written, on the living organism of : 
who drink it, in characters so broad and hold, and plain, that 
he who runs may read. 

In view of this recorded prohibition of those poisons, talk 
not of temperate use ; such use belongs to authorized health- 
ful beverage — to water, milk and wine ; I mean good, rei 
ing, unintoxicating wine, such as might have been drank in 
Palestine, such as was drank at Cana ; even such wines, when 
used, are to be used temperately ; and there may be times, 
and I think the present is such a time, when from motives 
humanity as well as religion and expediency, their use should 
he dispensed with. 

But poisonous beverage, even poisonous wine, wine that in- 
toxicates, wine the mocker ; that serpent T s tooth, that adder's 
sting, against which the book of revelation warns, and to 
which warning the book of nature in accents long and loud 
responds; of such wine there i- m operate use. Such 
wine is poisonous, and is therefore to be everywhere and at all 
times utterly rejected- The chalice that cont&i n tains 

an element of death. It is not even to be received, or, having 
been received, is to be rejected ; and happy the youth — the 
man — who dashes it untasted from his hand. 

This is not declamation — it is not the speaker, but :zy 
Maker, hearer, that counsels thus. That counsel, as we 
have said, is made apparent in ruins stamped by the ordina- 
tion of Jehovah in every age, in every clime, and on every 
organ of every human being who transgresses his publi 
law in regard to poisons in ruins, stamped from their 

first inception in the moderate drinker, to their final consum- 
mation in the death of the drunkard by delirium tremen 

The shadowing forth of these ruins, as seen in a single 
organ, transferred by the pencil from the dissecting-room of 
the surgeon* to the canvass of the painter, I shall now pro- 
ceed to exhibit and very briefly to illustrate. 

The organ in question is the human stomach, with its triple 
coatings, with its inlet for food, its outlet for chyme, its mjs- 
terious solvent for converting the former into the latter, and 



* It. i::zii Sr-il. 5~ z-z- 1. ::: inzzizz.1. 



EXTRACT FROM PRESIDENT XOTT's LECTURE. 201 

its contractile power for transmitting the same (when so con- 
verted), through other viscera, to be absorbed in the repairing 
of the wastes of an ever-perishing and renovated organism. 

Fig. I represents the inner surface of this organ, exposed 
to view in its natural and healthy state — the state in which it 
was created, and in which it would ordinarily continue through 
life, but for those elements of ruin with which, by the indis- 
cretion of man, it is so early and often brought in contact. * 

Fig. II represents the changed aspect of this same organ, 
as it appears in the person of the temperate drinker. You 
perceive how that delicate and beautiful net-work of blood- 
vessels, almost invisible in the healthy stomach, begins to be 
enlarged — how the whole interior surface, irritated and in- 
flamed, exhibits the inception of that progressive work of 
death about to be accomplished. 

This change is effected by a well known law of nature, to 
wit, the rushing of the blood to any part of a sensitive texture 
to which any irritant is applied. You know what is the effect 
produced by even diluted alcohol when applied to the eye ; 
you know what the effect is, of holding even undiluted brandy 
in the mouth ; what, then, must be the effect of pouring such 
an exciting and corrosive poison into that delicate and vital 
organ, the human stomach ? 

Fig. Ill represents the stomach of the habitual drunkard, 
with its thickened walls, its distended blood-vessels, and its 
livid blotches, visible at irregular intervals to the eye, like the 
unsightly rum blossoms that overspread the countenance, in 
token of the havoc which disease, unseen, is making with the 
viscera within 

Fig. IY exhibits the ulcerated stomach of the habitual 
drunkard — with its loathsome corroding sores, eating their 
way through its triple lining, and gradually extending over 
the intervening spaces : all bespeaking the extent of the hid- 
den desolation which has already been effected. 

Fig. V represents the frightful stomach of the habitual 
drunkard, rendered still more frightful by the aggravation of 
a recent debauch. Its previously inflamed surface has become 
still more inflamed, and its livid blotches still more livid. 

* When this lecture was delivered, Dr. SewaPs drawings of the human 
stomach were exhibited, and the text is the explanation of them severally, 
as then given. 



202 EXTRACT FROM PRESIDENT NOTT's LECTURE. 

G-rumous blood is issuing from its pores, and its whole putrid 
aspect indicates that the work of death is nearly consummated. 

Fig. VI represents the cancerous stomach of the drunkard, 
or rather a cancerous ulcer in such a stomach, the coats of 
which stomach, as the surgeon who performed the dissection 
affirms, were thickened, and schirrous, and its passages so 
obstructed as to prevent for some time previous to death the 
transmission of any nutriment to the system. 

Fig. VII represents a stomach in which this progressive 
desolation is completed — it is the stomach of the maniac, the 
drunken maniac — as seen after death by delirium tremens, 
than which there is no death more dreadful, — signalized as it 
ever is by unearthly spectres, hydras and demons dire. 

It may have been the lot of some of you to have witnessed 
such a death scene; if it has, you will bear me out in saying 
that no language can express its horrors. 

The following lines convey but a faint idea of the frightful 
ravings of a poor inebriate who died of delirium tremens in 
an asylum to which he had been removed, and who, amazed at 
the situation in which he found himself placed, conceived the 
idea that, though sane himself, the friends who had placed him 
there were deranged. Excited to phrenzy and haunted by 
this illusion — 

Why am I thus, the maniac cried, 

Confined *mid crazy people? "Why? 
I am not mad — knave, stand aside ! 

I'll have my freedom, or I'll die. 
It's not for cure that here I've come — 
I tell thee, all I want is rum — 
I must have rum. 

Sane? yes, and have been all the while; 

Why, then, tormented thus? 'Tis sad! 
Why chained, and held in duress vile ? 

The men who brought me here were mad. 
I will not stay where spectres come — 
Let me go hence ; I must have rum, 
I must have rum. 

'Tis he ! 'tis he ! my aged sire ! 

What has disturbed thee in thy grave? 
Why bend on me that eye of fire? 

Why torment, since thou canst not save? 
Back to the churchyard whence you've come ' 
Return, return ! but send me rum, 
! send me rum. 



EXTRACT FROM PRESIDENT NOTT'S LECTURE. 203 

Why is my mother musing there, 

On that same consecrated spot 
Where once she taught me words of prayer? 

But now she hears — she heeds me not. 
Mute in her winding sheet she stands — 
Cold, cold, I feel her icy hands — 
Her icy hands ! 

She's vanished ; but a dearer friend — 

I know her by her angel smile — 
Has come her partner to attend, 

His hours of misery to beguile ; 
Haste ! haste ! loved one, and set me free ; 
'Twere heaven to 'scape from hence to thee, 
From hence to thee. 

She does not hear — away she flies, 

Regardless of the chain I wear, 
Back to her mansion in the skies, 

To dwell with kindred spirits there. 
Why has she gone? Why did she come? 
God, I'm ruined ! Give me rum, 
! give me rum. 

Hark ! hark ! for bread my children cry— 

A cry that drinks my spirits up ; 
But 'tis in vain, in vain to try — 

give me back the drunkard's cup : 
My lips are parched, my heart is sad — 
This cursed chain ! 'twill make me mad ! 
'Twill make me mad ! 

It wont wash out, that crimson stain ! 

I've scoured those spots, and made them white- 
Blood reappears again, 

Soon as morning brings the light ! 
When from my sleepless couch I come, 
To see — to feel ! give me rum, 

I must have rum. 

'Twas there I heard his piteous cry, 

And saw his last imploring look, 
But steeled my heart, and bade him die — 

Then from him golden treasures took : 
Accursed treasure — stinted sum — 
Reward of guilt ! Give — give me rum, 
! give me rum. 

Hark ! still I hear that piteous wail- 
Before my eyes his spectre stands, 

And when it frowns on me, I quail ; 
! I would fly to other lands ! 



204 EXTRACT FROM PRESIDENT NOTT's LECTURE. 

But, that pursuing, there 'twould come— 
There's no escape ! ! give me rum, 

! give me rum. 

Guard ! guard those windows — bar that door— 

Yonder I armed bandits see ; 
They've robbed my house of all its store, 

And now return to murder me ; 
They're breaking in, don't let them come ; 
Drive — drive them hence — but give me rum, 
! give me rum. 

I stake again? not I ! — no more, 

Heartless, accursed gamester ! No ! 
I staked with thee my all, before, 

And from thy den a beggar go. 
Go where? A suicide to hell ! 

And leave my orphan children here, 
In rags and wretchedness to dwell — • 

A doom their father cannot bear. 

"Will no one pity? no one come? — 

Not thou ! come not, man of prayer! 

Shut that dread volume in thy hand — 
For me damnations written there — 

No drunkard can in judgment stand ! 

Talk not of- pardon there revealed — 

No, not to me — it is too late — 
My sentence is already sealed; 

Tears never blot the book of fate. 
Too late ! too late these tidings comej 
There is no hope ! give me rum, 

1 must have rum. 

Thou painted harlot, come not here ! 

I know thee by that lecherous look— 
I know that silvery voice I hear — 

Go home, and read God's holy book. 
For thee there's mercy — not for me ; 

I'm damned already — words can't tell 
What sounds I hear, what sights I see ! 

I'm sure it can't be worse in hell ! 



See how that rug those reptiles soil ! 

They're crawling o'er me in my bed! 
I feel their clammy, snaky coil 

On every limb — around my head — 
"With forked tongue I see them play; 
I hear them hiss — tear them away ! 
Tear them away ! 



EXTRACT FROM PRESIDENT NOTT'S LECTURE. 205 

A fiend ! a fiend ! with many a dart. 

Glares on me with his bloodshot eye, 
And aims his missiles at my heart — 

! whither, whither shall I fly? 
Fly? no ! it is no time for flight ! 

1 know thy hellish purpose well — 
Avaunt, avaunt, thou hated sprite, 

And hie thee to thy native hell ! 

He's gone ! he's gone ! and I am free ; 

He's gone, the faithless braggart liar — 
He said he'd come to summon me — 

See there again — my bed's on fire ! 
Fire ! water ! help ! haste ! I die ! 

The flames are kindling round my head ! 
This smoke! I'm strangling! cannot fly — 

! snatch me from this burning bed ! 

There I there again — that demon's there, 

Crouching to make a fresh attack ! 
See how his flaming eye-balls glare — 

Thou fiend of fiends, what's brought thee back 
Back in thy car? For whom? For where? 

He smiles — he beckons me to come — 
What are those words thou'st written there? 
"In hell they never want for rum!"* 

In hell they never want for rum. 
Not want for rum ! Read that again — 

1 feel the spell ! haste, drive me down 
Where rum is free ! where revelers reign, 

And I can wear the drunkard's crown. 

Accept thy proffer, fiend? I will, 

And to thy drunken banquet come ; 
Fill the great cauldron from thy still 

With boiling, burning, fiery rum — 
There will I quench this horrid thirst ! 

With boon companions drink and dwell, 
Nor plead for rum, as here I must — 

There's liberty to drink in hell. 

Thus raved that maniac rum had made — 

Then starting from his haunted bed — 
On, on, ye demons, on ! he said, 

Then silent sunk — his soul had fled. 

Scoffer beware ! he in that shroud 

Was once a moderate drinker too, 
And felt as safe — declaimed as loud 

Against extravagance, as you. 



*The rum maniac varied. 

18 



206 EXTRACT FROM PRESIDENT XOTT'S LECTURE. 

And yet ere long I saw him stand 

Refusing, on the brink of hell, 
A pardon from his Savior-s hand, 

Then plunging down with fiends to dwell. 

From thence, methinks, I hear him say, 
Dash, dash the chalice, break the spell, 

Stop while you can, and where you may — 
There's no escape when once in hell. 

God, thy gracious spirit send, 

That we, the mocker's snare may fly, 

And thus escape that dreadful end, 
That death eternal, drunkards die. 



No. 15. 

»« 

sketch: 

BY THE 

HON. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, 

SECRETARY OF STATE, WASHINGTON. 



The following brief sketch, from the pen of the Hon. 
William H. Seward, appeared in the English edition of Dr. 
Nott's celebrated Temperance Lectures. In re-publishing a 
part of the ninth and the whole of the eleventh and last of the 
series, in this volume, it appears to be appropriate that the 
following just tribute by his pupil, should be published also. 

E. C. D. 

Dr. Nott has lived nearly a century. The period of his 
life comprises the whole of our national history, and even his 
matured and publicly active years have been more than " three 
score years and ten." Gifted with rare versatility of talent 
and industry of habit, he has impressed himself upon the 
country and the age in many ways, as deeply as other men 
only aspire to impress themselves in one. 

Were any historian of our times to begin to catalogue the 
names of the eminent divines of our country, perhaps the first 
name that would occur to him would be that of Dr. Nott. 
Were he to go on and add those of its noted instructors of 
youth, again the name of Dr. Nott would first suggest itself. 
Were he then to add those of its Biblical expositors, the same 



208 SKETCH BY HON. WM. H. SEWARD. 

name would again present itself among the foremost. Were 
he to continue with those of its philosophers and reformers, 
still the same honored name would recur with like pre-eminence. 

The pulpit has long counted him as one of its most impres- 
sive orators. Union College, over which he has so long 
presided, owes to his organization and management its high 
prosperity. Thousands who were once his pupils, and are 
now scattered throughout the Union and the world, useful and 
prominent in every walk of public and professional life, look 
back to him with almost filial affection, and are, unconsciously 
even to themselves, disseminating and perpetuating the influ- 
ences of his teaching. Science has been enriched by his 
researches; art owes to him more than one valuable invention. 
Literature has received from him contributions which will 
endure with the language itself. 

No great political or moral reform has taken place during 
the century which is not indebted for a part of its success, to 
his sagacious and efficient support. A life of irreproachable 
purity, Christian benevolence and virtue has made him at once 
a teacher and an exemplar of his generation. 

His remarkable influence over men, individually or in 
masses, is in part attributable to keen perception of character 
and careful study of human nature, but more perhaps to the 
tendency of his mind toward the examination of subjects in 
their practical rather than their theoretical bearing. Thus in 
religion his attention has been given to ethics, rather than 
polemics; in science, to the practical application of laws 
rather than abstruse investigations of their origin; in politics, 
to measures and results, rather than theories or controversy; 
in literature, to its instruction rather than its recondite studies 
or its elegant pleasures. 

Few men have in their lives done so much to guide the lives 
of others in accordance with the dictates of philosophy, and 
the teachings of Christian revelation. 



WM. B. CARPENTER, M. D., F. R. S., ETC., ETC., 



USE AND ABUSE OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS 
IN HEALTH AND DISEASE. 



Space will not allow of lengthy extracts from the writings 
of this distinguished English physician. He states : 

11 Experience has proved that the Temperance Reformation 
cannot be carried to its required extent, without the coopera- 
tion of the educated classes, and that this influence can only 
be effectually exerted by example. There is no case in which 
the superiority of example over mere precept, is more decided 
than it is in this. * I practice total abstinence myself,' 
is found to be worth a thousand exhortations ; and the 
lamentable failure of the advocates who cannot employ this 
argument, should lead all those whose position calls upon 
them to exert their influence to a serious consideration of the 
claims which their duty to society should set up in opposition 
to their individual feelings of taste or comfort. * * # 1 
believe it to be in the power of the clerical and medical 
professions combined with the educated classes, to promote the 
spread of this principle among the c masses ' to a degree which 
no other agency can effect." 

Dr. Carpenter adds : 

" In his general view of the case, he -has the satisfaction of 
finding himself supported by the recorded opinion of a large 
body of his professional brethren ; upwards of two thousand 
of whom, in all grades and degrees, from the court physicians 
and leading metropolitan surgeons, who are conversant with 
the wants of the upper ranks of society, to the humble coun- 
try practitioner, who is familiar with the requirements of the 



210 USE AND ABUSE OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS. 

artisan in his workshop and the laborer in the field, hare 
signed the following certificate : 

c We, the undersigned, are of opinion, 

* I. That a very large proportion of human misery, including poverty, 
disease and crime, is induced by the use of alcoholic or fermented liquors as 
beverages. 

( 2. That the most perfect health is compatible with total abstinence from 
all such intoxicating beverages, whether in the form of ardent spirits, or as 
wine, beer, ale, porter, cider, <fec. 

e 3. That persons accustomed to such drinks may, with perfect safety, dis- 
continue them entirely, either at once, or gradually after a short time. 

{ 4. That total and universal abstinence from alcoholic beverages of all 
sorts would greatly contribute to the health, the prosperity, the morality and 
the happiness of the human race.' 

"No medical man, therefore, can any longer plead the sin- 
gularity of the total abstinence creed as an excuse for his non- 
recognition of it ; and, although a certain amount of moral 
courage may be needed for the advocacy and the practice of it 
yet this is an attribute in which the author cannot for a mo- 
ment believe his brethren to be deficient." 



LORD BYRON. 

He died at Missolonghi, Greece, April 19, 1824: Lord Ma- 
caulay said of this great but misguided man, whose wisdom 
would have been to act on the proverb, " Wine is a mocker," 
without exemplifying its truth : "An imagination polluted by 
vice, a temper embittered by misfortune, and a frame habitu- 
ated to the fatal excitement of intoxication, prevented him 
from fully enjoying the happiness which he might have derived 
from the purest and most tranquil of his many attachments. 
Midnight draughts of ardent spirits and Rhenish wines had 
been ruin to his fine intellect. His verse lost much of the 
energy and condensation which had distinguished it." Byron 
learned by sad experience the falseness of his own line, that 
" In the goblet no deception is found." The serpent whose 
praises he sang struck deep into his own breast its envenomed 
sting. — Spectator. 



No. 16. 



CHIPMAN'S REPORT. 



A. Champion, Esq., of Rochester, N. Y., engaged, over 
thirty years since, Samuel Chipman of the same beautiful 
city, to visit all the Poor-Houses, Jails, and Orphan Asylums 
in the State of New York, to ascertain the sources from 
which they were filled with so many wretched and depraved 
victims. He was engaged about two years in this duty, and 
in all cases, his statistics were verified by the heads of those 
establishments. The manuscript copy of the report was 
handed to that great and pure-minded statesman, William L. 
Marcy, then Governor of the State of New York, who ex- 
pressed great astonishment at these astounding verified sta- 
tistics, and recommended their being printed and circulated to 
the greatest possible extent. Over 100,000 were printed and 
circulated. They were also republished in Paris, France. 

The report is now out of print, but a single extract from 
the statistics of Albany county, is given as a sample of all the 
counties, and also an extract from Mr. Chipman' s letter to 
Mr. Champion. 

Garret Hogan, jailor, certifies, " that in one month 114 
criminals were received into the jail : 15 temperate, 17 doubtful, 
82 intemperate; of the intemperate, at least 20 have been com- 
mitted for the abuse of their families. During the year at least 
100 cases of delirium have occurred. Imprisoned in conse. 
quence of intemperance, in one year, at least 820 ; for whip- 
ping their wives or abuse of families, not less than 200." 



212 chipman's report. 

John 0. Cole, the police magistrate (yet in office), states, 
" that he examined into every criminal case brought before 
him for a single week : of 50 cases, 48 clearly originated in 
intemperance. Over 2500 criminal cases were brought before 
me in a single year, 96 in the hundred originated in, or were 
directly connected with intemperance." 

" To A. Champion, Esq., Rochester, N. Y. : 

" Of the cause of temperance I may just say, that I have 
not found a spot where it has not made some progress. In 
the southern tier of counties, parts of which are comparatively 
new, I was surprised to find that this subject appeared to be 
as old, was as well understood, and had received as large a 
share of attention, as in the older counties. In fact, I have 
at every step seen conclusive evidence that the blessing of God 
has attended the means that have been used to arouse public 
attention to the desolating evils of intemperance; and that in 
proportion to the means has been the success. On this, as on 
every subject of moral reform, the people need 'line upon 
line, and precept upon precept ' — to have facts and arguments 
presented — to have them pressed home upon their consciences 
where they have any, and where they have not, the appeal 
must be made to their self-interest. 

"I am fully aware that in the details I have given, there is 
great sameness, but my object is to show what is the uniform, 
legitimate effect of the use of ardent spirits,* and without 
going into these details, this could not be fully acomplished. 
Alcohol is on trial — sheriffs, keepers of poor-houses, clerks 
of supervisors, magistrates, the superintendents and offi- 
cers of the house of refuge and of the lunatic asylum, &c, 
are giving testimony. Let them be heard. The greater the 
uniformity in the testimony they give, the greater the influ- 
ence it ought to, and will have on the minds of an honest and 
intelligent jury. 

" There is another reason forgiving these particulars. Those 
officers have chosen to insert them in their certificates — they 
may deem them important, especially in their own counties, 
where their statements will be scrutinized. I will not assume 
the responsibility of adding or diminishing aught. 

* All kinds of intoxicating drinks are now regarded as ardent spirits. — Ed. 



chipman's report. 213 

"And now, in view of the facts which the statistics I have 
exhibited — showing the proportion of pauperism and crime 
growing out of intemperance, and the expense which it occa- 
sions, arising directly from the same cause, besides the incal- 
culably larger amount arising from it indirectly, in the loss of 
time, of litigation it occasions ; the time of parties, witnesses 
and spectators; the interruption and derangement of business ; 
the destruction of property; the loss of health, and the bills 
of physicians — it would seem that men endowed with reason 
would look around them and inquire for the benefits to coun- 
terbalance these evils; and if none could be found, that the 
next object of inquiry would be the remedy. And this reason 
and common sense cannot mistake. The evils had existed, 
had been seen and deplored, and yet had increased for centu- 
ries, until societies were formed taking for their fundamental 
principle, total abstinence. The success which has followed 
their organization, and the exertion of their members, can 
leave no doubt that a complete victory will finally crown their 
efforts. And notwithstanding I have shown beyond the 
power of contradiction, that more than three-fourths of the 
ordinary tax is absorbed by the support of the poor, and the 
administration of criminal justice — that more than three- 
fourths of the pauperism is occasioned by intemperance, and 
more than five-sixths of those committed on criminal charges 
are intemperate, yet the greatest obstacle in your way is the 
pecuniary interest of a few individuals — that of manufactu- 
rers and venders. If the tax-payers will submit to this, we 
might, looking upon it as a mere matter of pecuniary profit 
or loss, stand by and laugh at their folly : but when we reflect 
that the business of the manufacturer and vender involves 
the temporal happiness of thousands, as well as their eternal 
interests, this subject assumes an infinitely more serious aspect. 
In no poor-house that I have visited have I failed of finding 
the wife or the widow, and the children of the drunkard. In 
one poor-house, as my certificate will show, of 190 persons 
relieved there the past year, were nineteen wives of drunken 
husbands and seventy- one children of drunken fathers. In 
almost every jail were husbands confined for whipping their 
wives or for otherwise abusing their families. In one nine, in 
another fourteen, in another sixteen, had leen in prison for this 
offence the last year : in another, three out of the four who 



214 chipman's report. 

were then in prison were confined for whipping their wives. 
But when we reflect that but a very small proportion of these 
brutes in human shape are thus punished, the amount of 
misery and domestic suffering, arising from this source, exceeds 
the powers of the human mind to compute ; and yet the sale 
of that which causes all this is not only tolerated but is au- 
thorized by law. 

" Could we collect the wives and children of this class in a 
great amphitheatre — place in an outer circle the manufactur- 
ers and the venders, and fix them there until each mother and 
child had told the history of their griefs — of their downward 
course from affluence, or competency, from respectability and 
domestic happiness to poverty, to misery and wretchedness — 
could the scenes of domestic discord be all acted over — could 
the blows of the sworn and once loved and cherished protector, 
now transformed to a madman and a brute, be made to sound 
in their ears, with the shrieks of these wives and mothers, and 
the wailings of their innocent children; could they for the 
occasion be furnished with powers of language to describe 
their days of toil and misery, and their nights of unmitigated, 
unmingled and unavailing sorrow and anguish ; could they 
throw into their countenances all the agony which has so often 
wrung their souls, all the terror and trembling, all the disgust 
and loathing which the conduct of their husbands and fathers 
have caused them ; could these men hear the prayers of these 
wives for their husbands, that the temptation which had so 
besotted and enslaved them might not again be thrown in 
their way — and finally, could the secret tears which they have 
shed be made to flow in full view of this circle of makers and 
dealers that surround them — could all this be done, is there a 
soul not absolutely in league with the great Adversary and 
Tempter himself, who could for another day or hour continue 
in his unholy business ! ! ! Yet all this is seen by the eye of 
Omniscience, and these groans and wailings, and prayers, 
have entered into the ears of the God of Sabaoth; and yet 
these men who are the chief agents in producing all this, 
would have us consider them as patriots, as philanthropists, or 
even as Christians — yes, men who profess to be governed by 
the law of love ! — to feel their paramount obligation to do 
good to all men; — yet assisting to hoist the flood-gates of 
intemperance, spreading desolation, and ruin, and death ! ! — 



chipman's report. 215 

occasioning misery in all its disgusting and horrid and heart- 
rending forms; — and crime, which is filling our jails with 
felons, our mad-houses with maniacs, and our land with widows 
and orphans, and hastening to the grave and to the judgment, 
those whom God has said, cannot inherit his kingdom ! ! ! And 
yet all this is seen in every section of our country at this day, 
when no man can plead ignorance in regard to this subject. 

11 You, sir, with every friend of his country, and especially, 
every friend to the religion of our Savior, cannot but be 
pained at the bare recital of these facts ; yet you, and all 
that are engaged in the temperance reformation, may have the 
pleasing reflection that you are laboring to eradicate these 
evils, and that all your labors and sacrifices in this cause have 
thus far been crowned with a measure of success so far beyond 
your most sanguine anticipations, as to demonstrate that the 
cause of temperance is under the special protection of Him 
who can and will cause it ultimately to gain a complete and 
glorious triumph. 

I am, sir, 

Very respectfully, yours, 

S. CHIPMAN." 



Mr. Chipman extended his examinations to other states — 
Massachusetts, Vermont, &c, &c. — the result was about the 
same. Deacon Moses Grant, of Boston, says : 

" From the establishment of the House of Correction, in 1823, I was 
seven years one of the Overseers of that Institution; for several years I 
have been connected with the House of Industry, and I have also been two 
years one of the Overseers of the Poor, which has led me to examine into 
the causes of the great amount of pauperism and crime in this city; and I 
have long since made up my mind, that could ardent spirits be banished from 
society, three-fourths of the expense attending the institutions referred to 
would be saved, and an immense amount of misery and wretchedness anni- 
hilated. 

I am also of opinion, from personal observation, and actual inquiry of the 
intemperate, that a very large proportion of all the intemperance, which 
so severely taxes this community, owes its origin to dram-shops.' 5 



A 

SHORT SERMON 



FROM THE 



OLD TESTAMENT, 



TEXT: 

Leviticus 10 Ohap., 8, 9 and 10 verses. 

"And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, do not drink 
wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when 
you go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: 
it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: 
and that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, 
and between unclean and clean." 

Remarks. — A short sermon was prepared to follow, but 
is omitted, illustrating the universal application of the pro- 
hibitory text, in consequence of the nature of the substance 
prohibited, and its invariable effect on the human frame 
when used as a beverage — I trust learned biblical expo- 
sitors will examine the question and give results. — Ed. 



A 

SHORT SERMON 



PROM T¥1C 



NEW TESTAMEN T 



TEXT: 
First Thessalonians, Chap. Y: 5, 6, 7 and 8 verses. 

" Ye are all the children of light, and the children of 
the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. There- 
fore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be 
sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they 
that be drunken, are drunken in the night. But let us, who 
are of the day, be sober, putting on the breast plate of faith 
and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation." 

Also Ephesians V, 18 verse. 

"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be 
filled with the Spirit ;" 

Remarks. — Learned scholars, who have examined the text 
from Thessalonians, declare "be sober," in the original 
means to be abstinent, and that the English translation of the 
18 verse, V chap. Ephesians, gives a wrong idea to the 
general reader. 



19 



No. 17. 

♦ ♦ 

TEMPERANCE 
A SOURCE OF NATIONAL WEALTH, 

By Hon. Mark Doolittle, of Belchertown, Mass. 



A PEIZE ESSAY 

[Prom Am. Tern. Quart. Mag. Vol. II Feb., 1834.] 

The subject of temperance, as connected with political 
economy, is well worthy the attention of every patriot and 
every philanthropist. It has a direct and important bearing 
on all the vital interests of nations, being inseparably con- 
nected with them, not only in its political effer-ts, but also in 
its moral influences, involving all that is dea*- and desirable 
in the condition and character of a people. Few subjects 
have engaged the attention of the politician, 01 the moralist, 
more than politico} economy; and few have beeE more loosely 
and obscurely treated. 

Political economy, is defined to be the science which treats 
of the wealth of nations ; in what the wealth of a nation con- 
sists ; what produces it ; what increases it ; what perpetuates 
it ; what diminishes it. Writers have different views on all 
these points. It is not my design to go into the consideration 
of the comparative excellence of the different systems that 
have been embraced by different writers, on this subject. 
Devenant and Stewart, contend that commerce is the great 
source of the wealth of a nation ; and that those who ^ngage 
to the greatest extent, in this branch of industry and °nter 



NATIONAL WEALTH. 219 

prise, deserve the appellation of political economists. M. 
Quesnai contends that agriculture is the principal source of 
national wealth. Dr. Adam Smith derives the wealth of a 
nation from agriculture, commerce and manufactures, and has 
illustrated his principles, with much good sense and sound 
reasoning, appended to which, is some theory and speculation 
of doubtful practicability. Sir William Petty says, the wealth 
of a nation consists in the totality of the. private property of 
its individuals; others say it consists in the abundance of its 
commodities; others, in the exchangeable value of its nett pro- 
duce, and some make it consist in what is superfluous. M. 
Connard calls wealth the accumulation of surplus labor; and 
Lauderdale says it consists in all that a man desires that is 
useful or delightful to him. 

Without objecting to the views of others, I shall define po- 
litical economy, the science directing to the best mode of 
providing for the wants, guarding the rights, securing the 
interests and means of prosperity and happiness of a nation. 
In this view is embraced not only the science treating of the 
wealth of a nation, and the means of acquiring and perpetuat- 
ing it, but also the application of wealth, as a means of na- 
tional prosperity. 

A rule for the application of wealth as the means of ad- 
vancing the common interest, is the great desideratum in poli- 
tical economy : and this is equally true, whether applied to 
nations, to small communities, or to an individual. A nation 
may have great wealth, while the subjects of that nation, in 
countless multitudes, are suffering the extremes of poverty and 
wretchedness ; or a nation may have great wealth, and the 
means of making it still greater, while it is placed at such 
immense hazard, either in the acquiring or sustaining it, that 
they could not be justly entitled to the distinction of political 
economists. Again, a nation may acquire great wealth by 
conquests, or by treaty, while they multiply the draw-backs and 
expenditures, resting on their resources to a much greater 
amount ; in such a policy, there could be no economy. Eco- 
nomy is frugality, discretion in expenditure or investment, a 
distribution of everything in its proper place, whether prac- 
ticed by a nation, or by an individual, it matters not, the one 
or the many who disregard the principle, cannot claim the 
character dependent on the principle ; it is a principle of 



220 TEMPERANCE A SOURCE OF 

universal application, it cannot be changed by time, place or 
circumstances. 

By the unalterable constitution of things in this world, our 
wants both of body and mind, urge themselves upon us with 
perpetual demands. These wants must be supplied, or man 
could never attain to the station for which he is designed ; he 
could not exist as a rational and intelligent being in the world; 
our own efforts are necessary to develop the means and furnish 
these supplies ; in this we see the wisdom of Providence, in con- 
necting our own enjoyment with our own efforts in attaining it. 
Labor, diligence in useful employment, is the source of wealth 
to both individuals and nations, it is the source of national 
strength and prosperity ; not only is it the source of wealth, 
but it is the capital of the nation, and the government whose 
system of policy induces the greatest number of its subjects to 
be usefully employed, may take the palm for practicing the 
best system of political economy. Imagine for a moment, a 
community exhibiting such a spectacle, where all are engaged 
in mitigating the ills of life, in supplying the wants, in im- 
proving the mind, in purifying the morals and elevating the 
character of those within the sphere of their influence, and we 
should have presented to the mind an emblem of heaven. Any 
acts of the government tending to induce idleness, dissipation 
of mind or morals, declare war with every principle of political 
economy, and send disease to the very vitals of the body 
politic. They open the store-houses of misery in the land. 
Legislators should be the guardians of the public morals. 
Their business should be to act for the public good. 

Laws imposing restraints upon the evil passions and pro- 
pensities of men, have always been found necessary. As vice 
increases, these laws must be multiplied. Livy tells us that 
when Rome was pure, she had no law against embezzling the 
public money, but when this crime began to appear, laws 
against it became necessary, and expense and danger to the 
public followed in their train. Idleness produces vice. By 
the laws of Solon, idleness was made a crime. By these laws 
each citizen was required to give an account of the manner of 
his obtaining a livelihood ; the wisdom of this law-giver raised 
Athens to its highest glory. Vice creates an amazing tax 
upon industry and honesty ; it fastens all the fruits of their 
exertions in a mortgage from which there is no redemption. 



NATIONAL WEALTH. 221 

I have said that labor is the source of wealth, the capital of 
the nation. Land is also called a source of wealth; but with- 
out labor it would be of comparatively no value ; even the few 
spontaneous productions of the earth useful to men, require 
labor in fitting them for such use. 

I shall attempt to prove that labor applied to the production 
of what is useful and beneficial to society is always accumula- 
tive in its nature ; all the fruits of our industry, so far as they 
are applied to meet the necessary wants of the community, 
are investments for future use. I use the term investment 
for what is sometimes called expenditure. In this connection, 
for illustration, the man who rears a dwelling, necessary for 
himself and family, makes an investment against future want, 
as directly, as he does who places his money in stocks for 
future use ; he who labors to furnish himself and family with 
food and clothing suited to their wants, invests the fruits of 
his labor for future need, as directly as he does who stores his 
silver and his gold for a like purpose. Without these supplies 
the physical and moral energies of man could never be ma- 
tured or sustained; all would be lost, and earth emptied of its 
inhabitants. Whatever is applied to the maturing, sustaining 
and perfecting the physical, intellectual and moral powers of 
men, and tending to promote that which is useful and benefi- 
cial to the community, is a capital applied to advance national 
wealth and prosperity ; to secure the production and the ap- 
plication of such a capital is the duty of every government, 
and to this end should the science of political economy forever 
be directed. 

An objection may arise to the view here taken, from the 
fact that labor to some extent in every country is applied to 
the production of what are denominated the superfluities of 
life ; that these may be beneficial and yet are not among the 
supplies to meet the wants of the community. Be it so. It 
is not at variance with my position. The question how far a 
government can by its acts and its laws, patronize the pro- 
duction of the superfluities and luxuries of life in accordance 
with sound principles of political economy, is not a new one; 
the advocates for such patronage say it is a stimulus to 
increase industry ; that it tends to develop mind and means 
for greater usefulness, which but for such a patronage would 
lie dormant and useless. So far as it has the effect, i* is> 



::i r .- zz.±y :z ± s;tl:z ;j 

capital invested for future use. For example : the man who 
can purchase for himself a suit of clothes for fifty dollars, 
e^-il'.T ;;nf;r:iV-T ii: T:~i'-'-y iijiMi. is i 5-;::: :li: — :~lLI 
cost a hundred dollars, but for reasons which seem to him 
substantial, .purchases the most expensive suit, and is induced 
by it to double his diligence and the fruits of his inc 
loses nothing; bj an increase of diligence and of skill, he 
invests in himself a new and increased capital for future 
profit; but suppose he has not increased his labor or his skill, 
to meet the extra amount of cost, then it is loss to him. Still, 
so far as his wants were supplied, it was a good investment 
::: ri:zzi zz:z\z. 

The government which authorizes the manufacture and 
traffic in ardent spirits, lends its authority to legalize corrup- 
tion, and violates the first principles of political economy. In 
the first place, I say the capital, the labor and the fruits of it 
directed in this channel are useless ; it has often been proved 
that even to the druggist, ardent spirit is not necessary. 
Many medical and scientific men have testified to this asser- 
tion from their own experience. It is also evident from the 
:i::. :li: Irigs mi : : :._- : in : s — t?t 15 5 ::tl::z:i'.'-7 7: 7 177 i 
si: is si::ss~.1t itt"-:t:: Iz. ^^y:z.z :i-r zz:zz^ss :: iisr ist. 
before the discovery of ardent spirit, as they have been since, 
and as a drink the article is highly pernicious, continually 
warring against the welfare of men. 

If this position be true, government has no right to author- 
ize the traffic ; this I infer from several considerations. Every 
government is bound to protect its citizens in the enjoyment 
of their natural rights of life, and the use of the elements 
which surround them. It is as unjustifiable for a government 
to violate these rights, as it is for one individual to violate 
:'_zz_ I17 ^:--7Z.zz.rZ.- -.''--.-. si:ili ^5::i_t :: hi£t :, _:;l: 
to one or more, giving authority to corrupt the air, or the 
water which is for his neighbor's use, or to "sell as healthful 
i.:i_ri:. s::L iz:Li= :: ::■: i is :.l;:::t lis ItiItji. is zii-r.v'.T 
i::s -«i:l: u: ::^"_:. is :_t t : _ T:_^ri: ~:i_.:. :_;-,: sli'ili 
i::t!_i: :: ::::i :li :-.!iiiii:i :: '.-- :..- : . .'.: z~z-. ;: ilt 
other statute of heaven. It is violating the first great prin- 
ciples on which society is founded, and the rights which are 
granted by the unalterable laws of God. The legislature that 
" . a power, incurs a fearful responsibility. Many, 



NATIONAL WEALTH 223 

while shielded by such authority, will carry on a traffic with- 
out remorse, at which the whole soul would be in agony but 
for the trappings of such an armor. In this way legislators 
become the patrons of iniquity ; so it has been, and so it con- 
tinues to be; every vile passion, and every evil propensity 
becomes clamorous for indulgence under legislative sanctions; 
they have often gained an influence fatal to the prosperity of a 
people, carrying degradation and misery in their train. Such 
influence has been witnessed from the licensing of lotteries, 
of theatres, and gambling houses, and has been fearfully 
illustrated in licensing the traffic in ardent spirit. 

In what aspect would that government be viewed by a 
Christian community, or by a civilized world, which should 
directly authorize the commission of the same crimes, which 
are the legitimate fruits of the traffic which they do authorize ? 
Strip the license law of its false attire, and it would read thus : 
" Be it enacted by the authority of government, that any 
person who will pay into the public treasury for the use of the 
government, one dollar, shall be permitted to become idle, 
dissolute, profane and abandoned in his character, to abuse 
his own family and commit violence on the property and per- 
sons of others, whenever he is thus disposed, or induce others 
to do it if he thinks proper." Such a law would be harmless, 
when compared with the law authorizing the traffic in ardent 
spirit. The license law throws off the restraints against the 
commission of crime, while it multiplies to an hundred fold 
the propensities for the commission of crime. Legislators 
cannot say they are ignorant of the effects of this traffic. 
Even if they could, they must know that voluntary ignorance 
can never excuse them. The legislator probably knows the 
effect of the license law, as well as he does the effect of any 
other law. Does he know the effect of the law made for the 
execution of the murderer, and for chaining down in perpetual 
solitude, the burglar and the robber ? and does he know that 
on one page of his statute are written the penalties which 
await the perpetrators of crime, and on the next, a license for 
administering the very aliment which brings the sufferer to 
feel them? This is cruelty! legalized cruelty! ! And is it 
right ? I ask again, is it right ? If it is not, it is wrong ; there 
is no middle latitude on this compass. Again, I would ask 
the legislator, who sanctions the traffic in ardtnt spirit, what he 



224 TEMPERANCE A SOURCE OF 

would say of a traffic, furnishing an article to the very swine 
he feeds, if it should have the same effect on them that ardent 
spirit has on the human species, producing no nourishment to 
the animal, but bringing disease and premature death, even 
against the counteracting effects of all the nutritious aliment 
that could be administered ? would not the swine be entitled 
to legislative protection against the common enemy of their 
species, and would not the trade be denounced as a great 
public calamity? 

The traffic in ardent spirit violates the first principles of 
political economy. It diminishes the productive labor of the 
nation. It is computed that about one in ten of the adult 
male population of our country is disabled by the use of ardent 
spirit from performing the usual labor of a man. His mere 
disability, if it cost nothing to support him, would require 
one-tenth more labor to be performed by the residue, and 
when we add the expense of support to the disabled one, we 
shall increase the burden upon industrious sobriety nearly as 
much more ; for he that does not contribute his share to the 
common supply is a pensioner upon the bounty of his fellow men. 

The capital, materials and labor converted into ardent 
spirit, becomes a total loss to the world, and the community 
is taxed to make up the loss. Though the producer obtains 
his exchange, the manufacturer his reward, and the retailer 
his profit, the consumer loses the whole. Is it not so ? do the 
avails of his purchase feed, or clothe, or instruct, or improve, 
or in any way benefit him or his ? Place the mind on this 
point with all the intenseness of minute discovery, and point 
me to the benefit which the consumer has derived from his 
purchase; if some benefit is not derived and cannot be derived, 
then it must be a total loss, involving all the capital, labor 
and profit which the purchase cost. It is loss to the world, 
and doubly so to the consumer, for with this loss his physical 
and mental powers are impaired, the very capital which he 
had invested for future use. Had the devouring element con- 
sumed the purchase and spared the purchaser, his loss would 
have been comparatively small. When labor and the resources 
of the country are applied in advancing the great objects for 
which man was created and civil and political communities 
formed, to mature and elevate and purify the mind of man 
and perfect all his powers, they become beneficial investments 



NATIONAL WEALTH. 225 

for the public good; the more deeply this principle becomes 
fixed in the minds of men, the greater will be the demand 
upon these investments for carrying on the great purposes of 
improving the world, till man arrives to the highest elevation 
of which he is susceptible, in his present state of existence. 

The argument for the manufacture and sale of ardent 
spirit derived from the fact that these employments afford 
occupation for multitudes, when viewed in its bearings on po- 
litical economy, will be seen to be unsound. Wnat one gains 
another loses. Even if the government derive a revenue from 
the manufacture or the sale, it changes not the case, the con- 
sumer loses the whole. The government can never be bene- 
fitted by a traffic, the result of which is a total loss to every 
one of the entire amount of the article which is the object of 
the traffic. For illustration, suppose the government should 
import infection for spreading the cholera or the plague through 
the country, and a revenue should be derived from a traffic in 
the article, and an army of druggists and of the medical 
faculty and attendants should find full employment, the busi- 
ness become extended, the revenue increased till one half of 
the population of the country was required for administering 
relief to the wants of the other half; would the government 
be profited ? would this be a wise system of political eco- 
nomy ? Just so far as the moral or physical energies of a 
people are diseased or palsied by the acts of the government, 
just so far the government is weakening, impoverishing and 
ruining itself. In this respect what is true of a single family 
is true of a nation ; as well might the father of a family imag- 
ine that he was accumulating wealth from a traffic which 
should bring idleness, profligacy, disease and death within his 
own doors, as a government could imagine itself deriving a 
beneficial revenue from a traffic producing similar consequences 
upon its own citizens. Take another view of the same general 
principle, of revenue from human suffering merely as a 
question of political economy. Suppose the government bar- 
ters the lives, the health, the means of usefulness of its sub- 
jects for gain. A revenue is derived from the traffic, human 
scalps or amputated limbs, by supposition, are in great demand 
in a foreign market ; the government possessing the power *' to 
enforce the wrong, dooms and devotes its subjects as their law- 
ful prey" furnishes that market till the avails should fill the 



226 TEMPERANCE A SOURCE OF 

government treasury to overflowing, would it be a saving 
policy' for the nation ? Their energies crippled and all their 
powers palsied, the remainder helpless, miserable, wretched 
remnants of humanity, a charge on public charity, and objects 
of pity at which even savage mercy would weep tears of blood. 
Apply the illustration to the effects which ardent spirit is pro- 
ducing in the land, and these effects are but faintly repre- 
sented. It is ascertained that thirty thousand die annually in 
the United States by intemperance, probably many more. A 
portion of these are for a time cast on the public for support. 
The loss to the community of the labor of each, for a single 
year, is at least fifty dollars, which he might have earned 
more than the supply of his own wants. By this traffic he is 
made a pensioner on the public to a like amount. Thirty 
thousand such cases would cause a loss of three millions of 
dollars annually. If the government has gained in revenue, 
it has granted no equivalent to the victims of the traffic. 

Another argument in favor of this traffic is, that producers 
might be multiplied to an injurious extent, were it not for a 
class of consumers. It is said that what was not likely to be 
consumed would not be produced : the argument is an old one 
and is simply this, the producer-will not apply his labor to 
supply his own wants and to increase his own comforts, unless 
he can apply a portion of his produce to support the idle and 
the profligate; a fact is assumed in this case which has nothing 
to support it. Examination will prove the reverse of the pro- 
position, the assumed fact is mere delusion. 

Six years ago, there were in the county of Hampshire, Mas- 
sachusetts, about forty distilleries ; the county contains about 
thirty thousand inhabitants. At many of these distilleries, 
there were consumed annually for each one, several thousand 
bushels of grain. These have ceased to operate, and our 
grain bears a higher price uniformly than when they were in 
operation. What is true in that county, is true elsewhere; we 
may discover a reason why it is so. The mere consumer 
does nothing to benefit the producer. Like the horse leach, 
he cries give, give ; like the devouring element, he makes no 
return. If he returns an equivalent for what he receives, it 
is the fruit of others' labors, and might as well have passed 
to the hands of the producer, without his interference, as with 
it ; all he possesses is as pensioner on the bounty of others, 



NATIONAL WEALTH. 227 

reaping where he has not sown, and gathering where he has 
not strawed. 

Again, no government has ever acted on the principle that a 
class of mere consumers is necessary or useful, and such a 
class has never existed but as objects of compassion or of 
dread. If such a class be necessary, the true policy of the 
government would be to designate them with reference to their 
moral character, and that their number be such as would pro- 
duce the greatest amount of labor to the nation. The princi- 
ple, as bearing on the economy of the nation, may be seen 
under the inquiry, who remunerates the producer for what is 
furnished to the mere consumer f It is very evident that the 
mere consumer cannot, for he has nothing to pay with ; the 
answer may be the government. And who is the govern- 
ment in this connection, and what the means and source of its 
wealth ? this is labor, the industry of the producer. This 
mode of market-making brings us to this anomaly in political 
economy, that for the purpose of creating a market for our 
surplus produce, we must have a class of mere consumers, and 
that the producers must pay themselves for what is thus con- 
sumed, and do we not come to the same result as before, that 
it is a total loss? The price of labor cannot increase but by 
an increase of the funds from which it is to be remunerated. 
Every effective laborer taken fiom the producing class, dimin- 
ishes the general fund. To increase the effective labor of a 
nation, must increase its wealth and all its resources, and this 
in its turn again increases the rewards to active industry. 
Hence every member of the community is interested in increas- 
ing the means for remunerating the laborer, that they become 
as abundant as possible. The prosperity and increasing wealth 
of a nation furnish the richest rewards to the laborer, and are 
an inducement to activity and diligence in the active pursuits 
of life. The mere consumer hangs as a continual discourage- 
ment upon the active industry of the country. The truth of 
this principle may be illustrated by adverting to such judg- 
men 4 :' upon the fruits of the field as produce a scarcity : here 
is a ccr-Mumer, but is it beneficial to the public. Have patri- 
ots or Christians ever desired the visits of blast or mildew on 
the fruits of the field, for the purpose of creating a consump- 
tion, or making a market for the surplus produce of the 
laborer ? The locusts and caterpillars of Egypt, were con- 



22S TEMPERANCE A SOURCE OF 

sumers, but no blessing to the nation. By the unalterable 
laws of God, labor is the source whence our wants are to ,je 
supplied, and without it the world would be depopulated. In 
savage life, labor is limited and supplies scanty; labor does 
not go beyond the production of mere necessaries ; yet some- 
thing in the form of labor does exist, and no nation can exist 
without it. The grave would hardly be more barren of sup- 
plies for the wants of life, than the earth without the aids of 
active industry. To discontinue the traffic in ardent spirit 
would increase the wealth of the nation almost beyond calcula- 
tion. In a few years the value of our lands would be doubled, 
purchasers would be multiplied, active labor greatly increased, 
and wealth accumulating for the useful purposes of life. New 
investments and applications of capital would give elasticity to 
nind and enterprise in action ; these in their turn would be- 
come accumulative and seek new investments for purposes 
beneficial to the public. Kailroads and canals, would bring 
into commercial nearness the most distant parts of the land ; 
means of instruction in the useful arts of life, would be fur- 
nished and directed to the improvement of the intellectual and 
moral powers of man. It is not within the scope of my design 
to carry out in statistical detail, the effects of suppressing the 
traffic in ardent spirit, neither could it come within the limits 
prescribed for this essay; all that can be done here is to pre- 
sent general principles, leaving the details and the application 
of them for others. 

Probably more than one hundred millions of dollars have 
been lost annually to these United States, for a succession of 
years in this traffic ; it is a total loss, and whether it be more 
or less than the computation here made, is of little moment to 
the patriot or the Christian. We cannot here follow out the 
demoralizing effects of the traffic upon the community ; three- 
fourths of the crime of the land, three-fourths of the expense 
of our criminal code, three-fourths of the occurrences which 
jeopardize life and property by night and by day, by sea and 
by land, and three-fourths of all the misery which the right- 
eous retribution of infinite justice visits on our land is the off- 
spring of this traffic. These effects merely on the financial 
concerns of the country, must arrest the attention of every 
patriot ; he must act, and he will act till these streams of 
desolation are dried at their fountain. Temperance is the 



NATIONAL WEALTH. 229 

means to produce the change, the redeeming power which 
alone can accomplish the work. By this, thousands of drunk- 
ards will be reclaimed, and tens of thousands of free drinkers 
saved from a drunkard's end. By this, vast numbers of the 
idle, the profligate, and the abandoned, will be turned to 
honest and useful employment. By this our alms-houses, our 
penitentiaries, our jails and our state prisons, will be con- 
verted into apartments for free, useful and profitable industry. 
By this, many families will be taken from the sinks of degrad- 
ation, and misery, and restored to comfort, and to competence, 
and instructed in the useful arts of life. Legislators should 
begin this work and place this traffic on the contraband list, 
as filled with contagion to the community. Such an act of 
prohibition on the traffic would soon change the whole aspect * 
of things ; prosperity would be written on all the employ- 
ments of men, and give stability and perpetuity to the govern- 
ment : forty thousand public prosecutions for crimes would be Cs 
saved for a single year, at an expense of two millions of dol- 
lars ; an army of pensioners on public charity, and officers for 
executing the penalties of law upon transgressors, would be 
disbanded, and seek useful and productive employment. It 
was said of one of the former kings of England, that during 
his reign, " none needed the public charity, because none 
were idle." The emphatic language of the celebrated Burke, 
should forever be kept in mind, that, " Patience, labor, fru- 
gality, sobriety, and religion, are the support of political eco- 
nomy, true benevolence, and real charity, and all the rest is 
docvn right fraud." 

Remarks. — The above article is re-published in this volume 
for preservation, and to show the present and the rising gene- 
ration the kind of argument which was used over thirty years 
since by great and good men, now for the mc#t part no more, 
to arouse the American people to the serious consideration of 
an evil which was rapidly sapping the very foundation of our 
nation's greatness. Let the above be read by all men who 
love the human race and- seek for its advancement in all that 
is good and great. Never was there a period in our nation 1 s 
history when the wisdom contained in the above essay, should 
sink deeper into every patriotic heart. God grant that it may 
so be, and produce fruits a thousand fold. — Ed. 
South Ballston, Nov. 8, 1864. 

20 



No. 18. 

**— *♦ 

REDUCTION 



IN RATE OP 



INSURANCE ON TEMPERANCE SHIPS, 



[Extract from Article II (2) in the American Quarterly Magazine, Oct 
1st, 1834, on the Reduction in the Rate of Insurance on Temperance Ships, 
and before the great principle of total abstinence from all that can intoxi- 
cate had become universal, as the basis of all organized temperance labors.] 

The temperance reformation is gradually, but steadily, and 
we trust irresistably extending its influence into every class of 
society, and every pursuit and relation in life. And well it 
may, for no practice or custom can be mentioned which had 
ever gained such universal prevalence in a civilized commu- 
nity, producing so much evil without any countervailing good, 
as the use of intoxicating drinks. Our fervent prayer is that 
the friends of this cause may never cease their efforts until 
the only remedy and the only preventive, total abstinence from 
all that can intoxicate, shall be a universal motto. 

This great reformation differs from all others that have 
ever been undertaken by human instrumentality alone, in 
several particulars. It addresses man as a moral and intel- 
lectual, as well as a social and physical being. It has a bear- 
ing both on his temporal and eternal interests. All other 
great attempts at reformation have had some one specific 
object in view, and have been based upon such principles or 
have united such elements as have entirely forbidden their 
universal adoption. But this addresses itself equally to the 
king on his throne and the beggar on the dunghill ; to all de- 



INSURANCE ON TEMPERANCE SHIPS. 231 

nominations in religion, and to men of no religion; to all 
parties in politics ; to the patriot, to the political economist, to 
men in every profession, to the poor and to the rich ; to the 
farmer, the merchant, the mechanic .and the laborer ; to 
parents and children ; to husbands and wives ; and in short to 
man in all conditions, circumstances and relations. It more- 
over offers no compromise. It proposes the entire abandon- 
ment of a habit almost universal, and the substitution of one 
directly opposite, under a full and unequivocal assurance that 
nothing but good shall result from the change. 

But it is not our intention, in our further progress, to 
dwell upon the common views of this subject. Our readers 
will have perceived, at the head of this article, that we have 
a new text. The unmixed, uncompensated evils resulting 
from the use of alcohol have been spread before the public, 
supported by such an accumulation of evidence as would 
appear to be irresistable ; it would seem that the world must 
be aroused, and that every man who loves his own or his 
neighbor's body or soul, must enlist in a war of extermina- 
tion against so deadly a foe to his race. This effect, however, 
has not been produced ; and although victory after victory 
has been achieved, still the enemy is strong, and numbers 
amongst his hosts many of the rich, the honorable, the tal- 
ented, the respectable and the pious of the land : indeed these 
alone sustain him ; these form his van guard ; these are his 
shield' and his only efficient protectors. The drunkards ! 
They are powerless. Their minds and bodies are enfeebled ; 
their property is mostly wasted ; they are captives to alcohol, 
not his defenders; many of them struggle to escape from his 
chains, but alas ! they are unable, for whichever way they 
turn they are headed and hemmed in by officers and soldiers 
in the army of alcohol, under the guise of respectable tempe- 
rate drinkers and respectable dealers, who by their example, 
solicitations and temptations, drive the helpless victim back to 
heavier chains and deeper degradation. 

But we would say to the friends of temperance, take 
30urage ! A new ally has appeared ; a fresh victory is won ; 
i wide and promising field for future operations is opened ; 
you have only to persevere, and by the help of God your suc- 
cess will be complete. And whilst we encourage our friends 
we would also present to those who are indifferent or neutral 



232 INSURANCE ON TEMPERANCE SHIPS. 

and to those who still oppose, the fruits of our recent acqui- 
sitions, affording as they do the strongest possible evidence of 
the goodness of our cause and the truth of our principles ; and 
we would earnestly, but kindly, ask them to unite with us, 
and thus save themselves and the perishing around them. 

The recent proceedings of the marine insurance companies 
of the city of New York, in relation to temperance, are of so 
interesting and important a character, and afford such delight- 
ful encouragement to the friends of temperance, and to the 
best friends of the human race, that we have felt sure that we 
could not better serve the cause than by laying their proceed- 
ings before our readers, with our general views of the subject, 
and our estimates of some of the results that may reasonably 
be expected to follow the proposed measures. 

Copy of a Letter from Edward C. Delavan to the Committee appointed by 
the Board of Underwriters of the city of New York. 

To the Committee appointed by the Board of Underwriters, to take into 
consideration the expediency of allowing a discount on the premium of 
insurance on all vessels sailing without ardent spirit: 
Gentlemen : 

I have submitted to your consideration a document embracing the experi- 
ence of very many of the most intelligent masters and ship owners in the 
Union, which clearly demonstrates, that a very large proportion of all the 
losses of life and property on the ocean, are occasioned directly or indirectly 
by the use of ardent spirit, and as an inducement to all interested in navi- 
gation to give the subject serious attention, I would most respectfully sug- 
gest, that you recommend the adoption of a rule by all Insurance Offices in 
the city of New York, to return five per cent on the premium of insurance, 
on all vessels on return to port, or at the termination of the risk, on satis- 
factory evidence being given, by the officers of vessels insured, that no 
ardent spirit has been used as a drink, by officers or men, during the voyage 
or voyages. 

I am, Gentlemen, with great respect, 

Your obedient servant, 
(Signed,) EDWARD C. DELAVAN. 

The undersigned, to whom was referred the above communication from 
Mr. E. C. Delavan, believing that its adoption would subserve the cause of 
humanity, raise still higher the character of American vessels, and increase 
the security of our navigation, do hereby recommend, in accordance thereto, 
that the Board of Underwriters should resolve to hereafter allow a deduc- 
tion of five per cent upon the nett premium earned by any of the Insurance 
Companies of this city, On any vessel or vessels insured by them, upon the 
presentation of a deposition from the commander and mate, that no spiritu- 
ous liquors had been drank by officers or men, on board their vessel during 
the passage, voyage, or term for which she has been insured. 
(Signed,) ABR. OGDEN, ) 

J. R. HURD, y Committee. 

New York, Oct. 1, 1834. ADAM TREDWELL, ) 



INSURANCE ON TEMPERANCE SHIPS. 233 

At a special meeting of the Board of Underwriters/ held at the office of 
the American Insurance Company, in the city of New York, on the 2d 
October, 1834, present, 

Mr. WM. XEILSON, President, and 

Mr. Abm. Ogden, Vice-President of the Board, and the following mem- 
bers : 

Messrs. J. R. Hurd, Messrs. F. Diblee, 

J. P. Tappan, A. Tredwell, 

H. Cotheal, N. G. Rutgers, 

J. C. Delprat, J. K. Hamilton, 

C. McEvers, senr., J. R. Skiddy, 

B. McEvers, jun., C. C. Walden, and 

J. L. Hale, W. R. Jones. 
B. Balch, 

Mr. Ogdex, chairman of the committee, to whom was referred a commu- 
nication from E. C. Delavan, Esq., on the subject of temperance ships, 
made a report recommending that the Insurance Companies of this city make 
a deduction of five per cent on the premiums arising on ships navigated by 
crews not using ardent spirits. 

Whereupon the following resolution was unanimously adopted . 

Resolved, That the different Marine Insurance Companies in the city of 
New York, will allow a deduction of five per cent, on the nett premiums 
which may be taken after this date, on all vessels, and on vessels together 
with their outfits if on whaling and sealing voyages, terminating without 
loss, provided the master and mate make affidavit, after the termination of 
the risk, that no ardent spirits had been drank on board the vessel, by the 
officers and crew, during the voyage or term for which the vessel or outfits 
were insured. WM. NEILS0N, President. 

Walter R. Jones, Secretary of the Board. 

List of Insurance Offices, with Officers and Capitol. 

Name President, Secretary, Capital, 

New York C. McEvers T. B. Satterthwaite. . . 500,000 

Ocean A. Ogden I. S. Schermerhorn . . . 350,000 

American Wm, Xeilson P. Hoyt 5o0,000 

Union J. P. Tappan . . . . W. J.Van Wagenen. . . 500,000 

Atlantic J.L.Hale J. R. Pentz 350,000 

Neptune, J. R. Hurd A. B. Neilson 250,000 

National J.K.Hamilton.. W.T.Jones.. 250,000 

Jackson F. Diblee L. Gregory 400.000 

New York State,.. J.Bolton C. C. Walden 300,000 

Commercial B. Balch E.Hale 300,000 



Total capital $3,700,000 



Note. — At a subsequent meeting of the Board of Underwriters, S1500 was voted 
out of the funds of the Board), to print for the use of the American sailor, 100,000 
Temperance Tracts, adapted u? their need, which order was duly executed. 



234 INSURANCE ON TEMPERANCE SHIPS. 

The directors and officers of these companies are as respect- 
able a body of men as can be collected in any commnnity. 
They are selected to manage the concerns of these important 
institutions on account of their intelligence and their good 
standing in the commercial world. These qualifications are 
indispensable in order to insure the good management of the 
affairs committed to them, and in order to command the pub- 
lic confidence. They are no enthusiasts. They know nothing, 
in their collective capacity, of parties in politics or sects in 
religion. They have probably never been called upon to ex- 
press themselves on any question purely religious, moral or 
political, nor would they, as directors of these companies, 
have listened, for a moment, to any suggestion whatever of 
such a character. These gentlemen, and the stockholders 
whom they represent, each for himself, acts in these particu- 
lars according to the dictates of his own conscience. Their 
only aim, as a body, is, to manage the affairs of their institu- 
tions with skill and integrity ; and their success, and the high 
standing they enjoy, both at home and abroad, afford the best 
possible evidence of their ability and uprightness. In the 
consideration of the matter in question they inquired only for 
facts in their bearing upon this question alone. Nothing but 
the most irresistible evidence in favor of temperance, nothing 
short of a full assurance that total abstinence from ardent 
spirits would promote the safety of property on the ocean, 
could have induced them to embark thus publicly in promoting 
the great temperance reformation. 

Let us look for a moment at the facts presented to them. 
It has been ascertained beyond a dispute that by far the 
greater part of the shipwrecks and accidents at sea, are occa- 
sioned, directly or indirectly, by ardent spirits ; that vast 
amounts of property lost, thousands of lives sacrificed, a 
great share of the insubordination and mutinies may be traced 
to this cause alone. It was moreover shown satisfactorily, on 
the testimony of numerous respectable ship owners and mas- 
ters, that ships can be navigated in all parts of the world, and 
on the longest voyages, without ardent spirit ; that the sea- 
men enjoy better health, that they are better able to endure 
hardships, and that in every respect their comfort and safety 
are promoted by entire and total abstinence from the article. 
It was shown that several hundred ships have already made 



A GOOD CREATURE OF GOD. 235 

voyages, of every description, from this country, upon this 
principle, with the most satisfactory results ; and that the 
superior safety and good order of our temperance ships was 
exciting attention in Europe. The action had by the Insur- 
ance Companies fully confirms these statements ; their know- 
ledge of every thing that relates to commerce being such as 
would enable them at once to refute any erroneous represent- 
ations. 

It maybe set down as certain, therefore, that ardent spirits, 
in all circumstances and in all climates, on the ocean, are not 
only unnecessary, but that they are hurtful and dangerous. 
The insurers of ships in New York publicly offer an induce- 
ment to all ship owners and seamen to abandon their use. 



A GOOD CREATURE OP GOD. 

The Rev. Dr. Guthrie, of Scotland says : 

"I have heard a man with a bottle of whisky before him 
have the impudence and assurance to say : ' Every creature of 
God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with 
thanksgiving ;' and he would persuade me that what was made 
in the still-pot was a creature of God. In one sense it is so ; 
but in the same sense so is arsenic, so is oil of vitriol, so is 
prussic acid. Think of a fellow tossing off a glass of vitriol, 
and excusing himself by saying that it is a creature of God. 
He would not use many such creatures, that's all I'll say. 
Whisky is good in its own place. There is nothing like 
whisky in this world for preserving a man when he is dead. 
But it is one of the worst things in the world for preserving a 
man when he is living. If you want to keep a dead man, put 
him in whisky ; if you want to kill a living man, put the whisky 
into him. It was a capital thing for preserving the dead 
admiral, when they put him in a rum puncheon ; but it was a 
bad thing for the sailors when they tapped the cask, and drank 
the liquor till they left the admiral as he never left his ship — 
high and dry." — iV. Y. Observer. 

Bread is the staff of life, and liquor the stilts — the former 
sustaining man, and the latter elevating him for a fall. — N. Y. 
Observer. 



No. 19. 
LONDON STAR AND LONDON TIMES 

ON 

TEMPERANCE, ETC., ETC. 



[From the London Star,'] 

" The motives and objects of the Prohibitory Bill promot- 
ers must of necessity command the high respect and cordial 
sympathy of all who have at heart the welfare of humanity, 
for the cancer which they are striving to extirpate is one of 
the most virulent that ever ate into the vitals of a nation. 
No words can be too vivid to paint the hideousness of the 
myriad evils of which intemperance is the prolific parent. 
Excess* in the use of strong drink peoples the hospital, the 
lunatic asylum, the work house, and the gaol. It poisons 
the bodies, emasculates the minds, empties the pockets, and 
corrupts the morals of its victims, whose self-wrought 
destruction of body and soul adds enormously to the bur- 
thens of sober and decently-conducted taxpayers. The 
homes which it has desolated may be counted by thousands, 
and imagination shudders at the contemplation of the huge 
army of immortal beings hurried by it to perdition. There 
exists no difference of opinion among rational men with re- 
gard to the vast power and intense malignity of this foe to 
human happiness and human progress — the only question 

*A11 use as a beverage is " excess." 



LONDON STAR AND LONDON TIMES ON TEMPERANCE. 237 

is as to the most efficient means of checking its advances 
and securing its definitive defeat." 

[From the London Times.] 

" It may happen that our curious foreigner may in other 
parts of the world have seen the contortions of Arabs under 
the influence of hasheesh; he may have seen a Malay furious 
from bang, a Turk trembling from the effects of opium, or 
a Chinaman emaciated from inordinate indulgence in the 
same vice; but for a scene of sterling vice, and lust, and 
filth, and frenzy, all drawn into one pit, and fermenting 
under the patronage of the law, he might search the world all 
over and never find a rival to that object of ambition to re- 
spectable vintners, and that creation of Middlesex magis- 
trates — a thriving public house in a low gin-drinking 
neighborhood." 

James Haughton, Esq., J. P., of Dublin, alluding to the 
above quotation from the London Times, remarks: 

"A more severe, a more terrible, a more just anathema, 
has, perhaps, never been uttered against the cruel liquor 
traffic of these countries. It will not do to say that men 
should drink liquors in moderation. No nation that uses 
them has ever done so; and the 600,000 drunkards which it 
has been computed are ever floating in these United King- 
doms are sufficient evidence that so called moderation in 
their use is a recommendation which will not and cannot be 
followed; so that if we would get rid of the fearful drun- 
kenness which is our shame and our disgrace, some better 
means must be resorted to. 

That Christian British Poet, Cowper, born 26th April, 
1131, and died 25th April, 1794, well understood the nature 
of the license system and its effects: a brief extract is 
given from the Task, Book IV: 

" Pass where we may, through city or through town, 

Village or hamlet of this merry land, 

Though lean and beggar'd, every twentieth pace 

Conducts the unguarded nose to such a whiff 

Of stale debauch forth issuing from the sties 

That LAW HAS LICENSED, as makes temperance reel. 



238 LONDON STAR AND LONDON TIMES 

There sit involved and lost in curling clouds 

Of Indian fume, and guzzling deep, the boor, 

The lackey, and the groom. The craftsman there 

Takes Lethean leave of all his toil; 

Smith, cobbler, joiner, he that plies the shears, 

And he that kneads the dough, all loud alike, 

All learned and all drunk. The fiddle screams 

Plaintive and piteous, as it wept and wailed 

Its wasted tones and harmony unheard. 

Dire is the frequent curse, and its twin sound 

The cheek- distending oath. } Tis here they learn 

The road that leads from competence and peace, 

To indigence and rapine; till at last 

Society, grown weary of the load, 

Shakes her incumbered lap, and casts them out. 

But censure profits little ; vain the attempt 

To advertise in verse a public pest, 

That like the filth with which the peasant feeds 

His hungry acres, stinks, and is of use. 

Th' excise is fattened with the rich result 

Of all this riot : The ten thousand casks, 

Forever dribbling out their base contents, 

Touched by the Midas finger of the state 

Bleed gold for Parliament to vote away. 

Drink and be mad, then; 'tis your country bids; 

Gloriously drunk — obey the important call; 

Her cause demands the assistance of your throats; 

Ye all can swallow, and she asks no more." 

Remarks. — Mr. Houghton is right. When Mr. Gladstone 
was urging the wine bill through Parliament as a Temper- 
ance measure (I was present at the discussion), the Lon- 
don Times was with him. During the agitation of the 
question, however, that influential paper made the admission 
that " wine is less poisonous than gin" thereby coming up in 
a degree to the standard of the learned chemists of the world. 
Still the Times is in error: intoxicating wine is not " less poi- 
sonous than gin." If a glass of gin contains 100 drops of 
alcohol and a certain number of glasses of wine or any 
other fermented drinks, contain the same number of drops, 
the account is balanced, the evil is the same to those drink- 
.ng the same amount of alcohol in wine or in gin. 

The Duke of Orleans in 1838, who was at the time the 
Commander in Chief of the armies of France, stated that 
the allowance of one bottle of the light wine of the country 



ON TEMPERANCE. 239 

as a day's ration to the soldier, was the direct cause of 
most of the intemperance in the army. That this one bottle, 
as weak as it was, had the stimulating effect on the appe- 
tite to create the desire for another bottle, and still another, 
and to satisfy this desire caused by the first bottle given by 
the government as a ration, the small pay of the soldier 
was exhausted to purchase additional bottles to satisfy the 
cravings induced by the alcohol contained in the first; then 
followed disobedience of orders, crime, court martials and 
punishment. The first bottle here, like the first glass 
everywhere, is the origin of all the drunkenness of the world, 
and until it is given up by all classes, drunkenness with all 
its train of horrors will continue to curse this world. In- 
toxicating drink, what is it ? why is it so called ? If it 
takes six glasses of this poison to make a man drunk, what 
share in producing this madness should attach to the first 
of the six glasses ? This is a vital question, settled in the 
minds of some, but not yet settled as it should be, in the 
minds of all. A learned professor has stated: " The line 
which divides temperate (so called) from intemperate drink- 
ing HAS NOT YET BEEX DRAWN." 

There can be no temperate use of alcohol in any drink, no 
matter how genteel or aristocratic in name. Any use of 
such liquor as a beverage, is abuse — is " excess." Let the 
terms "moderate use" and " excess," be abandoned as im- 
plying temperance (there is no truth in them), by those who 
wish to place the reformation on a solid and lasting founda- 
tion. 

With due respect, I would ask of those who ridicule the 
"fallacies" and "follies" of temperance advocates, if they 
would take upon themselves the responsibility of recom- 
mending the moderate use of hasheesh or opium, and licens- 
ing men to vend them for common use. Opium and has- 
heesh are acknowledged to be poison, and when used as a 



240 LONDON STAR AND LONDON TIMES 

medicine should, like other poisons, be prescribed with the 
greatest caution. Alcohol is a poison in the same sense as 
opium and hasheesh, a slow poison to the more cautious, 
but a swift one to the incautious. Understanding the 
question as I now do, and after a study and experimented 
practice of near forty years, for me to use intoxicating 
drinks as a beverage is sin. I have no right to judge 
others, but I would advise every one to examine the ques- 
tion seriously (aside from preconceived opinions or habits, 
which are sometimes very blinding), with the light of the 
Bible and science before them, and if after such examina- 
tion, they find that God has declared alcohol (and without 
any qualification) "a mocker," and science has also settled 
the question that it is a poison, it is hoped they will join our 
ranks, and with their influence and labors and means as far 
as convenient, assist in rolling back the mighty flood of in- 
temperance which now threatens to overwhelm us, and 
ruin those we hold most dear. With a concerted action — 
a simultaneous movement in the right direction by the wise 
and the good, and the republic again united, the nation's 
debt would soon be wiped out by the increased wealth 
resulting from true temperance habits. 

It is thought by many who have studied the question, 
that a vast body of good men, the excellent of the earth, 
have in some degree at least, overlooked the one great 
cause of a large proportion of the destitution, misery and 
crime in our great cities. It is an evil which if not ar- 
rested, will exert such a controlling influence as will in time 
over-ride good influences and culminate in rendering our 
great cities pandemoniums of vice and corruption. The 
licensed grog shops before the war, caused about three- 
fourths of our local taxes, placing a first mortgage on the real 
and personal property of the state. The good and benevo- 
lent of our cities should at once turn their attention to this 



ON TEMPERANCE. 241 

great question. By devoting one-tenth of the tax now cre- 
ated by the license system and contributions to alleviate 
the sufferings of families, made wretched by its agency, in 
enlightening the masses and the public mind generally as 
to the necessity of breaking up that system, they would 
soon see a change that would astonish them. 

An experienced physician, when called to a patient, first 
applies himself to study the disease, its nature and its cause. 
He does not recommend the continuance of habits which 
created the disease, but at once says, " stop those habits or 
you must die." So with our license system; it causes 
through its effects the destitution of vast numbers, breaks 
down their characters, and renders them unworthy of the 
ballot. It has been stated that every grog-shop controls on 
the average at least twelve votes. 

Look at the vote on the 8th Nov., 1864, in New York. I 
am no partisan in politics — parties change, and each is 
glad to receive the rum vote. But let virtuous politicians 
of all parties (and there are plenty of such), look well into 
this matter, and do all in their power to purify the ballot — ■ 
else the rum vote will control the nation, and then its days 
as a republic are numbered. 



In closing, we give another extract from the London Times, 
taken from the N. Y. Observer, of the 15th December, 1864 : 

The London Times is preaching temperance. The world does move. Hear 
what the i( leading 7 ' newspaper of England says of the use of intoxicating 
liquors : 

"It is a peculiarity of spirit drinking that money spent upon it is, at the 
best, thrown away, and in general far worse than thrown away. It neither 
supplies the natural wants of man, nor offers an adequate substitute for 
them. Indeed, it is far too favorable a view of the subject to treat the 
money spent on it as if it were cast into the' sea. A* great portion of the 
harvest of Sweden, and of many other countries, is applied to a purpose 
compared with which it would have been better that the corn had never 
grown, or that it had been mildewed in the ear. Ts o way so rapid to increase 
the wealth of nations and the morality of society could be desired, as the 
utter annihilation of the manufacture of ardent "spirits, constituting as they 
do an infinite waste and an unmixed evil." 

Good doctrine that, for all, countries: and times. 
21 



THE 

INFLUENCE OF WINE DRINKING, 

Hundreds of Centuries before the Art of 
Distilling was known. 



Tantoquo opere, tanto labore et impendio constat, quod hominis mentem 
mutet ac furorem gignat, millibus eceleruin huic deditis. 

Translation. 
(So vast are our efforts, so vast our labors, and so regardless of cost, which 
we lavish on a liquid — [wine], which deprives man of his reason, and 
drives him to frenzy and the commission of a thousand crimes.) — Pliny. — ■ 
London Tern. Spectator. 

In the early movement in favor of Temperance Eeform in 
this country, distinguished and learned writers denied that 
wine contained alcohol, therefore could not produce drunken- 
ness. They were entirely right, if they referred to the tin- 
intoxicating wine, wine a blessing; but wrong if they referred 
to intoxicating wine, wine a curse, when used as a beverage, 
and the kind of wine which Pliny refers to. — [Ed. 



FABEIC AT KS 

OP 

FALSIFIED LIQUORS, IN LONDON, GETTING THEIR DUES. 



De Witt and Wright, the two men concerned in the exten- 
sive wine frauds in London, were tried at the Central Crimi- 
nal Court on ^Yednesday. The jury returned a verdict of 
guilty ; and previous convictions having been proved against 
both prisoners, they were each sentenced to fifteen years penal 
servitude. 



JSTo. 20. 

SCHEDULE OF BIBLE TEXTS 

RELATIVE TO WINE, Etc., 

I'' ROM THE LONDON EDITION O I* 
DR. NOTT'S TEMPERANCE LECTURES, 

CORRECTED BT DR. F. R. LEES. 



244 



SCHEDULE OF BIBLE TEXTS. 



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INTo. 21. 

»« 

stj:m:m:.a.:r y 

OF THE 

TEMPERANCE SCRIPTURE ARGUMENT; 

CONDENSED FROM THE 

WORKS OF DR. F. R. LEES, 

MEANWOOD LODGE, LEEDS, ENG. 



SUMMAEY. 



The Divine Works and Word, correctly interpreted, must 
harmonize ; not less on the Temperance question than any- 
other ; and since this is a practical topic, connected with 
morals and religion at many points, the Bible may fairly be 
expected to have recorded special instructions upon it. When 
we come to examine it, impartially, in the light of Facts, and 
correct principles of Interpretation, it is even found to have 
anticipated the ordinary wisdom of men and the developments 
of modern Science. The great physicians of Europe — Levy, 
Lallemand, Lehniann, Chambers, Smith, etc., express the last 
verdict of Science when they affirm the old Temperance doc- 
trine that Alcohol is simply a narcotic Poison, and not Food, 
in any true or ordinary sense of that word. The property of 
such a poison, is to seduce, mock, deceive ; to generate an 
ever-increasing appetite for itself amongst men ; and to make 
the soul subject to the craving tyranny of the sensual nature. 
The express language of Scripture is but the echo of this 
conclusion. "Wine is a mocker" " Be not deceived 
thereby." The cry of the drunkard is, " They have stricken 
me, but I felt it not, I will seek it yet again." The voice 
of a warning Wisdom is, "Look not upon the Wine, when it 
is red; when it giveth its eye in the cup," (marks of fermen- 
tation) ; for at last it stingeth like a serpent." Nay, more, in 
three plain texts, the only word in Hebrew for ' Poison' (hhe- 
MAh) — tho word six times so translated — is applied to this 



256 THE SCRIPTURE ARGUMENT. 

very species of drink which " stingeth like a serpent." The evil 
wine was " like the poison of dragons " (Deut. 32 : 33.) The 
princes made the King " sick with poison of wine." (Hos. 
7:5). And a woe is hurled against him who giveth such 
drink to his neighbour — who " putteth thy poison to him " — 
(Hab. 2:15) — the consequence being that God's poisoned 
cup of wrath (hhemah) shall be turned to him. Is it not 
pure insanity to suppose that such an element is identical with 
the contents of " the cup of blessing ? " 

The facts of the Bible are not less clear and decisive as 
regards the evils of Drinking. — 1st. God uses intoxicating 
wine as the constant symbol of wickedness and punishment. 
Hhemah is the poison of the cup of wrath — the maddening 
element — which is to the soul what physical poison is to the 
body. From Moses to John this expressive symbolism pre- 
vails. 2d. God shows us in the biography of his People, how 
prophets, patriarchs, and Priests fell into sin " through wine'' 
and were " swallowed up " of strong drink. 3d. God teaches 
us that the great cause of perversion in his People, as Church 
and Nation, after centuries of varied education and discipline, 
of unexampled laws and privileges, social, sanitary, and poli- 
tical, — was " the love of drink." " What more could I do for 
you?" saith the Lord. " Why, then, when I looked for 
grapes, do I find poisonous (or wild) grapes ? " The answer 
of the prophets is still the same. Amos sums up the whole in 
four transgressions ; and the four resolve themselves into one 
cause. (1). The Judges passed unjust verdicts, to get fines 
for drink to be consumed in the holy places. (2). They com- 
manded the prophets to cease, unless they would prophecy of 
wine and strong drink. (3). They tempted the Nazarites to 
I reak their pledge, because their sobriety was a standing 
rebuke to themselves. (4). They cared not for the "affliction 
of Joseph," but drank wine in bowls. (Compare Amos 2 : 6; 



THE SCRIPTURE ARGUMENT. 257 

Mieah 2 : 11 ; and Isaiah 5:). For these sins, it is said, 
" Therefore shall they go into captivity ;" and it is remarka- 
ble that they learned sobriety at last in the Court of Cyrus, 
the Magian teetotaler, where royal fashion and the Persian 
philosophy co-operated to that end. In this sublime history 
we see evil constantly associated with intoxicating drink; and ' 
exhibited as the hindrance to God's own teaching. How vain, 
then, to expect that our laws and crotchets will triumph over 
this sin where His failed. The church can only cure 
Intemperance by banishing its cause. 

With equal clearness are the blessings and benefits of Absti- 
nence exhibited. 1. Paradise was not wrongly constructed ; 
yet, amidst the perfect adaptations of food and drink to the 
wants of our perfect originals, alcohol found no place. To 
you, "it shall be for meat," applied to grain and fruit — not 
to that artificial and fiery product which results from their fer- 
mentative destruction. 2. God appoints or approves in other 
ways, the practice of Abstinence, both by Individuals and 
Societies. " In the beginning," as the Lord argued, concerning 
marriage, the modern system was not. The first of men and 
the fairest of women, were constituted teetotalers. Samson, 
the strong man, Samuel the Holy founder of the School of 
the Prophets, and John, more than a prophet, were striking 
examples of God's favor upon the system. It could not be 
for no reason in the nature of things, that Teetotalism was 
made the antecedent to physical power, to mental intelli 
gence, and to spiritual purity. 3. The Nazarites were * 
Society of Religious Abstainers, whose pledge was drawn out 
by God, to do honor to Him ; and were ranked on the same- 
level with his Prophets. 4. The Rechabites were probably 
voluntary imitators of them ; outside Kenites or Arabians ; 
and were highly commended by the Almighty for their fidelity 
to the pledge. 4. The Bible implies that Teetotalism is a 



258 THE SCRITTTJRE ARGUMENT. 

physiological law or truth. The case of Adam and Eve 
involves this, as part of the best possible condition. The 
Nazarites, Daniel, etc., prove it by their experience, for they 
were " ruddier, and fairer, and fatter in flesh" than the drink- 
ing Jews, who were black and ' withered.' But Samson's 
case is still more emphatic, since an angel was twice sent with 
instructions as to abstinence, before the birth of the strong- 
one. Dr. Smith's Experimental Researches say : " Alcohol 
greatly lessens muscular tone." Tom Sayers and Heenan, 
the well-mated champions of the Prize Ring, are obliged to 
train on Teetotalism. These, then, are but reverberations 
from a truth well known in Heaven nearly 3,000 years ago. 
The Rechabites, again, have their faithfulness made the 
ground of their perpetuity as a race — a promise founded in 
nature, and vindicated by their multiplication and continuance 
to the present day. 5. God's Remedy for Intemperance, 
when that vice interfered with the services of the sanctuary, 
was of total and everlasting abstinence. And what was 
neither needless, nor unwise, nor extreme in God, cannot be 
so with man. 6. Abstinence was taught as a necessary phy- 
sical preparation for moral purity and spiritual efficiency: (a.) 
In the cases of Samuel and John the Baptist. (6.) In the 
case of the Priests (Lev. 10), that they might distinguish 
holy from profane, (c.) In the case of the Nazarites, that 
they might illustrate at once, and voluntarily, the virtues of 
self-denial and purity. The law of prohibition to the Priests 
means this : " as men, do your own work your own way, but 
while bearing my insignia, and acting as my sei'vants, the 
work shall be done in your natural state, free from strong- 
drink." That to the Nazarites implies that " as I accept 
sacrifices only that have no spot and taint, so I accept your 
living sacrifice only on condition that you are unpolluted with 
the poison and the mocker." (d.) To this we may add the 
significant advice "It is not for Kings to drink wine." 



THE SCRIPTURE ARGUMENT. 259 

In the common Version of the Bible, even, there is but one 
text that gives God's apparent sanction to intoxicating icine, 
namely, Deut. 14:26, where 'strong drink' is named as a 
permissible element in a sacred feast. The answer is conclu- 
sive — that no word for 'strong' exists in the original He- 
brew. The term there is SneKaR — the original of saccar, 
sugar, and other terms. It denoted Palm-icine, which exists 
in various states, unfermentecl, sweet, and syrupy, as well as 
intoxicating and 'bitter.' Hence, as Bishop Lowth ob- 
serves, the antithesis of Isaiah — "Thy shechar (sweet- 
wane) shall become ' bitter 7 — i.e., deteriorated. About 60 
texts of the authorized version refer to wine (or what is sup- 
posed to be wine) with approbation, where the context shows 
or implies it to be a natural or unfermented product. Nob 
more than 52 texts exist which can be proved, by the context, 
to refer to intoxicating wine — and not one of these is con- 
nected with the Divine blessing. On the contrary, one half 
of them describe it as an evil, as a mocker and stupefier, or 
prohibit it either in general, or in special cases. 

These special implications of the evil quality of a particu- 
lar kind of wine, cannot be got rid of by saying that the 
Bible warns against excess, and thus implicitly sanctions a 
lesser use. In reality, it does both warn against the use, and 
the excess. But the principle of the objection is false. It 
is the same as to say, that if you are prohibited from kil- 
ling a man, as in the Decalogue, you are allowed to maltreat 
him short of killing ! But not only does the Old Testament 
commend abstinence and condemn drink, the New Testament 
frequently and distinctly exhorts to it ; and Church history 
furnishes illustrious examples of it in the first ages. It was, 
as Prof. Jewett admits, ranked "among the counsels of per- 
fection." The Bishop of Ephesus — Timotheus — was an 
extreme Abstainer, and seemed to need an apostolic prescrip- 
tion to induce him to use " a little wine " even as a medicine. 



260 THE SCRIPTURE ARGUMENT. 

What sort of wine it was, we do not know ; but we do know 
that Athenaeus says of the Sweet-Lesbian, called protropos, 
it was " very good for the stomach." (ii. § 24). 

The fact that teetotalism prevailed throughout the East for 
thousands of years — that it was a part of the discipline of 
the Oriental priesthoods from Egypt to India, that it pervaded 
Judea in the time of our Lord, and was manifested in the 
sympathetic sects of the Essenes and Therapeutse, — are cir- 
cumstances which compel the impartial critic to give a plain 
and literal sense to the language of the Scriptures, when it 
at once corresponds with historical practices and scientific 
verities. The presumption is strong against the supposition 
that our Lord would transform innocent water into intoxicat- 
ing wine — an element that the Essenes called "Fool's 
physic," which after Christians designated as the " inven- 
tion of the evil one" — though, as Augustin witnesses, they 
readily drank the juice of grapes; which the Saint somewhat 
illogically condemns as inconsistent ! All that our blessed 
Lord did, was to discountenance the Dualistic mistakes of the 
Persian philosophy, with a foresight of the Manichcean revi- 
val of it, that there was essential evil in matter, and therefore 
in Marriage and in Wine. But as his countenance of a pure 
marriage gives no sanction to a corrupt one, neither does his 
conversicn of pure water into pure wine, involve the slightest 
approval of that essentially impure and corrupt element which 
is " a mocker," and "wherein is excess." Here, again, we 
find the true modern conception anticipated by Divine Wis- 
dom: in that miracle which, though the first in order of time, 
was recorded only in the last of the Gospels, when the error 
it meets was creeping into the church. 

All the critical mistakes of those who have vainly striven to 
enlist the Bible on the side of sensuality, arise from the accep- 
tance of false principles of Interpretation, and from ignorance 
of Facts, no text referring to intoxicating wine can have any 



THE SCRIPTURE ARGUMENT. 261 

validity unless it be associated with Divine sanction. No 
such text exists — but many exist associated with varied evil. 
Such wine, no doubt, was permitted to be used, by both good 
and bad men, but so were divorce, polygamy, concubinage, 
slavery, permitted. This was "for the hardness of their hearts," 
not because the practice was good. The sole critical argu- 
ment of the Tipler is this : that the word ' wine ' is the same 
in connexion with the drunkenness of Noah, and the blessing 
of God upon wine in the Psalms, etc. Quite so : but that 
does not argue sameness of nature or quality. ' Man,' ' spirit ' 
* angel,' 'wife,' etc., are, like 'wine,' general words — but 
for that very reason cannot denote the specific differences 
amongst the class of things to which they are applied : as 
good or bad, pure or corrupt. Ignorance of facts is displayed 
in the common assertion that wine signifies "the fermented 
juice of the grape." The ancients did not, and could not, 
know anything of such a conception, inasmuch as they were 
ignorant of the process of fermentation itself. Hence the old 
Hebrew books — as the Gemara and the Chaldee paraphrase — 
speak of " the wine (yayin) which Messiah shall drink," as 
being "reserved in its grapes from the beginning ;" a striking 
comment upon the language of our Lord at His Last Supper. 
Hence also, in the thirteenth century, the great logician and 
theologian, Thomas Aquinas, decides that grape juice is of 
the specific nature of ivine (vinum), and may be used in the 
celebration of the Eucharist. The definition attempted to be 
palmed upon us, therefore, is false in history, and confounds 
the genus with the species : the ' Man ' with ' Negro." 

The original Scriptures in Hebrew and Greek, are not less 
clearly in favor of Abstinence than the common version. 
The Hebrew has many distinct words, which are all confused 
into the English phrases — ' wine ' — ' new-wine ' — * sweet- 
wine ' — 'flagons of wine' — and 'wine on the lees.' The 



262 THE SCRIPTURE ARGUMENT. 

real distinctions are as follows: 1. Tirosh — a collective 
term for ' the fruit of the vine ' in its natural state, from the 
early "tirosh in the cluster " to the richer " blessing within 
it" — of the full, ripe grapes, ready for consumption or use. 
Hence Micak's phrase, "Thou shalt tread tirosh, but shall 
not drink yayin " (its juice), for the fruit should be withered. 
(6 : 15.) It is thus associated as a thing of growth and of 
the fields, with corn and orchard-fruit (yitzhar — not oil): 
dependent upon the dew, rain, etc. In the Latin, French, 
German, Italian, and Spanish versions, it is generally, but 
wrongly translated mustum } mosto, etc. It is no where im- 
plied to be either intoxicating, or liquid. " Whoredom, wine. 
and new-wine" — does not make sense; but Idolatry, Ine- 
briety, and Luxury" does — represented by "Whoredom, 
Wine, and Grapes," which "take away the heart." The 
words in Prov. 3 : 10, and Joel 2 : 24, translated ' bursting 
and ' overflowing,' respectively, in the original signify no more 
than abundance. 

2. iEsmsHAH, ' sweet cake,' is the word translated ' flagons- 
of-wine — but erroneously, as all scholars now concede. 

3. Shemarim, in Isaiah from Shamar ' to preserve,' means 
'preserves,' well refined — not 'dregs' or 'wine.' It only 
occurs once in the supposed sense of wine. The older trans- 
lators regarded it as " sweet and dainty things." 

4. Mesech signifies ' mixture ' simply, which might be 
good or bad. The mingled- wine of Wisdom (boiled grape 
juice mixed with water), or the wine of Sensuality. " Who 
hath ivoe ? They that are mighty to mingle sweet drink" 
with inebriating drugs. . . 

5. Yayin is the generic term for wine, including the 'pure 
blood of the grape,' preserved-juice, and the fermented 
and drugged juice. It is applied in all these varied ways. 
" They washed their garments in wine." " They gathered 
wine." " Wine is a mocker : " it stingeth like a serpent.* 



THE SCRIPTURE ARGUMENT. 263 

" Their wine is the poison of dragons." No where do we find 
divine sanction associated with yayin, where the context 
shows it to be intoxicating. 

This word being general, necessitated in the latter ages of 
Jewish literature, the use of two or three specific terms tc 
indicate particular kinds of wine. As for example — 

6. Hhamer : fresh ' foaming '-wine in its first sense. But 
since the wine when it ferments, becomes red, the idea of red- 
ness got associated with the Chaldee use of the word : and 
perhaps '"thickness ' also. It is the word related to the foam 
of the sea, and the bitumen of pits. 

7. Ausis, from asas, ' to tread,' signifies the same as the 
classic protropos — ' first trodden' or ' running '-wine. "The 
mountains shall drop-down ausis" 

8. Sobhe is ' boiled-wine.' It is the sapa of the Romans, 
the sabe of the French and Italians. It was the luxurious- 
drink of the rich : but of course not intoxicating. 

9. Oinos is the generic Greek word corresponding with the 
Hebrew yayin, and is applicable to all sorts of wine. The 
context alone can determine the specific nature of the wine. 

10. Gleukos only occurs once in the New Testament, and 
is not associated with any Divine approval. It is, classically 
the name of rich-grape-juice, or unfermented wine; perhaps 
in some cases, for initially fermented wine. 

The New Testament distinctions and instructions are not less 
in harmony with Teetotalism than those of the Hebrew Bible. 

1. Engkratia — self-control — is the word four times 
translated ' Temperance ' — and in its other forms, twice 
temperate and once continent. In 1 Cor. 7:9; 9 : 25, it has 
evidently a negative application equal to abstaining. 

2. Epi-eikees : Forbearing — translated only once mode* 
ration; thrice gentle ; once patient. 

3. Sophroneo — sedate, discreet — translated sober — so 



264 THE SCRIPTURE ARGUMENT. 

ber-minded — and in a right-mind. This is mental ' sobriety 
— or the state when we can obey reason, and resist appetite. 
This can have nothing to do wilh drinking, which at best is 
but the gratification of a sensuous appetite. 

Mental temperance being thus expressed by the preceding 
is, ^e shall want a word for Abstinence in regard to the 
is found in a compound formed from the negative 
not), and pio (to drink) = neepho. Neepho 
occurs in the Apostolic exhortations seven times ; in its 
adjective form (neephalios) , thrice; in such peculiar con- 
nections, thai it seems absurd to put upon it any secondary or 
metaphorical meaning. The primary sense of the word, 
beyond all cavil, is that of Abstinence ; its secondary sense 
of ' wakeful,' being derived from the condition in which peo- 
ple who abstain from narcotics. " Without doubt," says 
Dean Alford, "the word signifies Abstinence, but Dr. Lees is 
bound to prove that it means total abstinence ! " Now we are 
bound to prove, no more than this — that it means not-drink- 
i use it in that, its primary sense. 
Josephus, one of their contemporaries, says of the Priests — 
"They abstained from wine" — (apo akratou neephontes). 
So Paul and Peter, who use the word along with the proper 
words for mental temperance and for watchfulness. Thus : — 

I Tim. 3 : 2. Be (neephalion) abstinent (teetotal), sound 
mind- 

I Thes. 5 : 6. Let us watch and drink-not neephomen. 

I Pet. 4:7. Be Bomid-minded J and abstinent unto 
pr;:.ver.* 

I Pet. 5 : 8. (Neepsate) Drink not, be vigilant^ because 
your adversary seeketh whom he may drink-doicn (kata-pie)." 

Why Josephus, Philo, Plutarch, and Porphyry should mean 
from drink by this word, but, as some strangely con- 

* B T-::ullian (De Jeju.) By prayer,, sobriety, and abstinence." 



THE SCRIPTURE ARGUMENT. 265 

tend, the Apostles signify drinking a little, we will not in- 
quire : for we will not follow perversity and appetite into the 
Den of Idols. 

The objection that the Deacons are not to be " given towards 
much wine," and the Deaconesses (aged-women) "not to be 
enslaved to much wine," falls before the fact that unfermented 
wine was allowed to women and to men after a certain age. 1 * 
If it be said, Why warn against excess in that which does not 
intoxicate? — we answer, why does Solomon inform us that 
" To eat much honey is not good ? " — if no one ever did. 
This is the fallacy of interpreting the language of the ancients 
by the customs of the moderns. Pliny and many others show 
us that the abuse of syrupy and sweet-wines was a special 
vice of the day. Lucian has this passage : — "I came, by 
Jove, as those who drink gleukos, require an emetic "—before 
they drink again. 

Josephus says of the Jewish priests, that on account of 
their office, they " had prescribed to them a double degree of 
purity." So Paul deemed a special and extreme form of Ab- 
stinence proper to be urged upon a Bishop : just as the ' Law 
Book of the 'Ante-Nicene Church ' commands that a Bishop 
shall not enter a Tavern except on necessity. To this end, 
Paul uses a word, which is equivalent to the modern pledge — 
"discountenance the drinking usages" — viz., namely, mee, 
(not) — par — (over, or in company) — oinon (wine). In I 
Tim. 3 : 2-3 ; and Titus 1 : 7-8 ; in connexion with being no- 
drinker, sound-minded, and no-striker, it is commanded that 
a Bishop shall be mee-par-oinos — " not near wine " — not in 
its company. 

Thus, it will be seen, even from the bare summary of the 
case, that the varied language of the Old and the New Testa- 

* Titus 2:2, and 1 Tim. 3:11, command that the Elders and their wives 
shall be neephalious (abstinent.) — i. e., no-drinkers of another sort of wine. 

23 



I" THE SCKIPTCRE ARGntEXT. 

ment, and the known-fads of antiijuity, conspire to establish 
eTeiy portion of oar Critical Theory ; thus does each separate 
fact and phrase find its fitting place in the Temple of Truth ; 
and thus, too, is it made manifest that Holy Scripture con- 
curs with moral and physical Science in teaching abstinence 
from narcotic poisons — a doctrine which needs to be reiterated 
afresh from the pulpits of Christendom, until the torpid eon- 

triumph of the Gospel is remoTed out of the way. " Where 
fore, take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be 
able to withstand in the evil-day; and having done all — to 
stand." 



MR. R. COBDEN, M. P 



Mr. Cobden's sympathy for the abstinence cause is well 
known. At Bradford he once made a speech, of which the 
following is a portion : — 

You are all aware, or, at least, some of you, that out of 
the 658 members of the House of Commons, Col. Thompson 
was able to endure the fatigue and annoyance of those long, 
dreary, and dull speeches better than any other man. He 
was more constantly upon the benches than any other mem- 
ber of that House; and, I believe, the member who came 
second to him was Mr. Brotherton. (Cheers.) Now, it ap- 
pears very oddly (and I tell it as a secret to those teetotalers 
who are present, that they may tell it to those who are absent), 
that both Col. Thompson and Mr. Brotherton are teetotalers. 
(Loud cheering.) And from what 1 have seen in the House, I 
must say that I have the belief, that the men who are the most 
temperate are the men who bear the fatigue of the House the 
best. I remember, on one occasion, that Col. Thompson, Mr. 
Bright, and myself, went on an agitation tour — during the 
heat of the League's agitation — into Scotland. We separated, 
and went through Scotland, lecturing every night and holding 
public meetings, and sometimes two meetings in a day. We 
rendezvoused together on coming back. On comparing notes 
we found that during all our tour in Scotland, not one of us 
had paid a farthing for fermented or intoxicating drinks of 
any kind. (Cheers.) I remember at one house, where we 



265 :■:?,. : ex, m. p. 

met, we were risked by a number : die bailiefl — bailies, in 
Scotland, are what our aldermen are in England — who called 
for glasses of whiskey-toddy. The way in which they twi- 
and turned it out from a large glass into a small one ! I 
remember Colonel Thompson and all of us tried to imitate 
that twist, but could not. (Laughter.) These bailies stayed 
with us until two o'clock in the morning. They had glass 
after glass of toddy, and still they went on in the proce- 
twisting it out of a tumbler into the wineglass. (Laughter.) 
Just as they were going off, we told them the circumst 
under which we could not join them. In consequence of the 
hard work, we were obliged to confine lively to 

the pump — (laughter) — and I remember one of those bailies 
looked up with a rather maudlin expression — for it was late, 
and he spoke at the bottom of three or four glasses : stiff 
toddy — and said, "Hey mon! but you water-drinkers will 
upset the world." (Cheers and laughter.) I do think that 
water-drinkers trill upset the moral world — (cheers) — and will 
turn it round with a much better face to us when they haye 
done with it. (Renewed cheering.) — Alliance Nt 



ISTo 22. 
DR. JOHN HIGGENBOTTOM, F. R. S., 

NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND, 

ON 

CONSTITUTIONAL DIFFICULTIES. 



I have been a guardian of the health of the public for nearly 
sixty years, and have labored as much as possible to prevent 
as well as to cure disease. Pecuniary emolument has been a 
secondary object, having been influenced more by a sense of 
duty than of interest. I have constantly and carefully studied 
the constitutions of my patients : constitutional difficulties — a 
phrase I never heard before teetotalism commenced. I recol- 
lect the first time I heard it, about a quarter of a century ago. 
I was attending a clergyman's wife during her confinement. 
On my second visit a maid-servant came into the bedroom with 
a basket containing several bottles of wine — a present from a 
lady in the neighborhood. I told my patient wine was im- 
proper for her. " Oh, no," she said, "my London doctor 
told me my constitution required such stimulants, and I have 
always been in the habit of taking them.' , I directly saw it 
was the indomitable force of habit which was her constitutional 
difficulty. 

Dr. Samuel Johnson says: " The diminutive chain of habit 
is scarcely heavy enough to be felt until it is too strong to be 
broken." The lady's habit had become too strong to be 
broken ; it would have been in vain to have told her that no 
constitution ever required an alcoholic stimulant. No; her 



270 c:ysr:in:oyAL difficulties. 

London doctor's opinion just agreed with her constitution — or 
to speak truly, with her habit, and depraved and unnatural 
appetite. The doctor had signed her death warran: 
tination and destruction were fix- 

fied with wine, but took brandy, and died of disease of the 
liver in the prime of life, adding another victim to the many I 
have witnessed. 

The lady who sent my patient the wine died an inveterate 
drunkard ; and she shortened the days of a poor asthmatic 
patient who lived near her, and who I attended gratuit; 
In this poor woman I surprised : find : the liver, 

which led me to inquire if she was in the habit of taking 
its, her daughter informed me that the lady had supplied her 
with rum regularlj. The three patients lived only in one 
small circle compared with the many large circles of my 
patients. 

I could a tale unfold ! 

I am grieved with my professional brethren making use of 
such a pretext — or in plainer terms, such a falsehood : indeed, 
I consider it impious in a medical man saying tha: 

::ion requires alcoholic stimu. is a reflection on his 

Maker. Our bodies were not made so as to require the incen- 
diary alcohol, or liquid fire, to permeate or to pass through 
erery organ, to sear, burn, and destroy the delicate and beau- 
,tifdl structures of our body. Why do medical men allow 
Sixty years ago the celebrated Dr. Trotter, ia his essay on 
drunkenness, said: "Society must be undergoing the last 
state of vitiation when the faculty of medicine gold 

and returns poison. T? I must con:— i: is a dangerous experi- 
ment at the present time for a medical man to become an 
ultra-teetotaller, never to prescribe or allow brandy, wine, 
porter, or bitter beer, &c, in his practice ; half of his living 
wouid be taken away. Alcoholic liquids are in common use, 
and doing their deadly work from the cradle to the grave. A 



CONSTITUTIONAL DIFFICULTIES. 271 

finger cannot be pointed to any part of that most invaluable 
tuid instructive picture of Ouickshank's " Worship of Bacchus" 
w ithout showing a group of individuals who are making plenty 
of work for the doctors ; beginning where the doctor, who is 
giving malt liquor to his lying-in patient, and ending where 
the doctor is introducing the publican to his patient — as the 
honest Yorkshireman said, " to finish the job V and in truth to 
prepare him for the next scene, the funeral. Medical men, 
unfortunately, are the greatest foes to teetotalism or true tem- 
perance. Many of them become intemperate, and fall victims. 
A medical writer in 1859, says of the drunkenness of medical 
men (we blush to write it), " That no class of persons who have 
received a liberal education are so addicted to it." 

I am sorry some of our distinguished medical men who have 
written on temperance have not been thorough teetotalers. I 
have reason to think that good Dr. Miller, of Edinburgh, would 
have become so had he lived. He informed me " that he was 
led to make out as good a case as he could for alcohol as a 
medicine, in order that he might reconcile people to part with 
it as food." He added, " Perhaps I have been led to rate 
alcohol as a medicine too highly in consequence." If Dr. 
Miller had become an ultra-teetotaller, never to prescribe or 
allow alcoholic fluids in his practice, he would most certainly 
have lost his reputation as a medical man ; he being the sur- 
geon to the Queen, and to Prince Albert the Good, would not 
have much availed him. It has long been my opinion that if 
an angel came down from heaven, and could cure all diseases, 
if brandy, wine, porter, or bitter beer were not allowed in the 
treatment, the attendance of the angel would be dispensed 
with ; not desired by the patient, who would seek for a fallen 
one, who would be selected instead. 

None of my medical opponents have tried both ways, with 
and without alcoholic fluids in their practice, not even for a 
single year ; therefore they have no practical ground to rest 



272 CONSTITUTIONAL DIFFICULTIES. 

upon, so as to enter into any B&tisi nitre tray upon the 

s '.:"::■; e:t. 

I have amply tried both ways. I gave alcohol in my prac- 

for twenty years, and have now practised without it for the 

thirty years .: more. My experience is tha: 

is more readily cured without it, and chronic i^uch more 

manageable. I have not found a single, patient injured by the 

se of alcohol, or a constitution requiring it; indeed, to 

find either, although I am in : ty-seyenth year, I would 

walk fifty miles to see such an unnatural phenomenon. 

If I ordered or allowed alcohol in any form, either as food 
or as medicine, to a patient, I should certainly do it with a 
felonious intent. 

Reicabks. — It is my solemn conviction, that until the medi- 
cal profession adopt Dr. Higgent ; fess- 
ing christians return to the use of the fruit of the vine, free 
from alcohol, at the Sacrament, the progress of true temperance 
will be slow; and more especially so. these two vital 
::ons be ignored by leading temperance advocates. Ed. 



SACRAMENTAL TTINE.— One of the ehief hindrances to the Tem- 
perance Movement has hitherto been the use of intoxicating wise at tha 
Lord's Sapper. It is difficult to make men understand how that can be a 
bad thing on their own table which is deemed a good thing on the Lord's 
table. The exception in the pledge, made in favor of alcoholic wine at the 
Sacrament, is always felt to be a kind of indirect testimony against the 
principle of entire abstinence. It is a source of weakness. >"or is this all. 
There is real danger in the ease. The late Rev. B.I in bis "Amli- 

Batch : says — Bi Not long ago, a reformed drunkard, and apparently a 

converted man, approached the Lord's Table of a church which I could came ; 
he ate the bread and drank the wine, but mark the result — tbe taste of the 
drunkard for alcohol is like that of the blood-hound for blood, a single rip 
makes him thi~.se for more; so here, the wine tasted at the sacred commu- 
nion, revived the old passion and he who seemed a saint, was corrupted by 
the sacramental wine, went heme, got drunk, and died a drunkard.*' Dr. 
. in his admirable leeture " 0* the Use of Intoxicating Wine at 
the Lord's Supper,' 7 referring to the ab: ; — • - One of my friends has 

assured me that no fewer than twelve similar cases had come to his own 
knowledge. 77 In view of this awful danger some ministers have trembled 
lest certain reformed drunkards in their congregations should seek admn 
to the Lord's Table. 



3STo. 23. 

» • * 

THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS, 

OB, THE 

PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLIC DRINKS, 

WITH 
DRAWINGS OF THE DRUNKARD'S STOMACH. 

A LETTER ADDRESSED TO EDWARD C. DELAVAN, ESQ., 

By THOMAS SEWELL, M. D., 

Professor of Pathology and the Practice of Medicine in the Columbian 
College, District of Columbia* 



Plate I. — Fig. I. Represents the internal or mucous coat 
of the stomach in a healthy state, which, in color, is slightly 
reddish, tinged with yellow. It was drawn from an individual 
who had lived an entirely temperate life, and who died under 
circumstances which could not have changed the appearance 
of the organ after death. 

Fig. 2. Of the same plate, represents a portion of the inter- 
nal coat of the stomach of the Temperate Drinker — the man 
who takes his grog daily, but moderately, or who sips his wine 
with his* meals. The blood vessels of the inner surface are so 
far enlarged, as to be visible, and are distended with blood. 

Plate TI. — Fig. 1. Represents the stomach of the habitual 
drunkard, or hard drinker, and shews the mucous or internal 
coat, to be in a state of irritation, with its blood vessels, 
which are invisible while in a healthy state, to be enlarged 
and distended with blood. It was drawn from the stomach of 
one who had been an habitual drunkard for many years. It 
bears a strong resemblance in its vascular structure, to what 

♦From the first volume of the "Enquirer," published 1841, now re- 
published in 4th edition of this work, by the written request of Judge 
Black, of Lancaster, Pa., being called for as explanatory of Dr. Sewell's 
etomach diagrams, page 22. 



274 THE PATHOLOGY OP DRUNKENNESS. 

are denominated the rum blossoms, sometimes seen upon the 
face of the hard drinker. 

Fig. 2. Of the same plate, represents the inner coat of the 
stomach, corroded with small ulcers, which are covered with 
white crusts, with the margin of the ulcers elevated and ragged. 

Plate III. — Fig. 1. Represents the mucous, or internal 
surface of the stomach of the drunkard, after a debauch of 
several days. It shows a high degree of inflammation, extend- 
ing over the surface, changing its color to deep red, and in 
some points exhibiting a livid appearance. 

Fig 2. Of the same plate, represents the appearance of the 
cancerous stomach ; and was taken from the case of a sea 
captain, who had been an habitual drinker of ardent spirits, 
and often in an undiluted state. The stomach is thickened, 
and scirrous, with a corroding cancer of the size represented 
in the plate. 

Plate IV. Represents the state of the internal coat of the 
stomach of a drunkard, who had died in a state of Delirium 
Tremens. It is covered by a dark brown, flaky substance, 
which on being removed, shews the stomach to have been in a 
state of high inflammation before death. In some points it is 
quite dark, as if in an incipient state of mortification. 

To Edward C. Delayan, Esq. : 

Sir — From a consideration of the deep interest which you 
have taken in the Temperance Reformation, and the eminent 
services you have rendered to this and other countries, by a 
series of philanthropic efforts to eradicate one of the greatest 
evils of the age, I am induced to comply with your request, 
by furnishing the accompanying drawings of the Drunkard's 
stomach, with a few remarks upon the pathology of intemper- 
ance ; delineating certain morbid changes produced by alcoholic 
drinks, as they have fallen under my observation. 

The following remarks will explain the circumstances under 
which these cases occurred, and the phenomena attending 
them : 

For upwards of thirty years, I have been more or less 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 275 

engaged in pathological researches ; during which I have en- 
joyed many opportunities of inspecting the stomach of the 
drunkard after death, in the various stages and degrees of 
inebriation; and these drawings will be found to present a 
pretty accurate delineation of the principal morbid changes 
produced upon that organ by intemperance ; changes which are 
eminently worthy of being brought to the view of the unsus- 
pecting sufferer, and which I should hope, might have some 
effect in deterring the temperate from the use of alcoholic 
poison. 

If the morbid effects of intemperance are in some degree 
various in different individuals : if they are not developed with 
the same degree of power and rapidity in one case as in another, 
it is nevertheless true that alcohol is a poison forever at war 
with man's nature, and in all its forms and degrees of strength, 
produces irritation of the stomach, which is liable to result in 
inflammation, ulceration and mortification, a thickening and 
induration of its coats, and finally scirrous, cancer and other 
organic affections ; and it may be asserted with confidence, that 
no one who indulges habitually in the use of alcoholic drinks, 
whether in the form of wine or the more ardent spirits, pos- 
sesses a healthy stomach. 

In addition to the morbid specimens which I furnish, I pre- 
sent you with one drawing of the healthy stomach, which will 
enable you to institute a comparison, and the more fully to 
appreciate the morbid changes produced by alcohol. 

To enable the unprofessional reader the better to understand 
the morbid effects of alcoholic drinks upon the stomach, as 
represented in the drawings, I beg leave to call your attention 
to a few remarks upon the anatomy and physiology of the diges- 
tive canal. 

Digestion is one of the most important of all the functions 
of the animal economy ; indeed it is indispensable to the due 
performance of all the other functions ; consequently whenever 



276 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

this bet mies impaired, the whole system languishes, and all 
the other functions become sooner or later affected also. The 
object of digestion is to convert the food into nutriment fitted 
to sustain and renovate the system, and to supply the waste 
that continually takes place in every part. 

As food is seldom found in a state fit for nutrition, it has 
necessarily to undergo various changes in the digestive organs ; 
changes which require that these organs should be extensive 
and complicated in their structure, and healthy in their action. 

The digestive canal is divided, according to its physiological 
arrangement, into, 1st, the mouth ; 2d, the pharynx and oeso- 
phagus ; 3d, the stomach ; 4th, the small intestines, and 5th, 
the large intestines. 

The mouth is the part concerned in masticating or grinding 
the food ; by the pharynx and oesophagus, it is swallowed and 
conveyed to the stomach, where it undergoes a most important 
change, commonly called digestion, by which it is converted 
into a substance denominated chyme. 

The stomach is situated in the cavity of the abdomen, occu- 
pying the epigastric, and a portion of the left hypochondriac 
region. It is a hollow organ, somewhat conoidal in its figure, 
and has been compared in its form to a bag-pipe. It is capa- 
ble of containing in the adult, when moderately distended, 
about one quart. The left half of the organ is much larger 
than the right. It has two curvatures, the greater and the 
less. It has two openings; the first is called the cardiac, and 
the second the pyloric orifice. The cardiac orifice is situated 
in the lesser curvature, near the left extremity of the organ, 
communicates with the oesophagus, and is the passage by 
which the food is received into the stomach. The lower or 
pyloric orifice is situated at the right extremity, communicates 
with the intestines, and forms the passage by which the food, 
after the process of digestion is completed, is conveyed out of 
the stomach. This latter opening is garnished by a circular 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 277 

band of muscular fibres, by which it is capable of becoming 
completely closed during the process of digestion. The stomach 
is composed of three coats. The first is the peritoneal or serous 
coat ; which is extremely thin, and forms the outer covering. 
The second is the muscular coat, and is composed of muscular 
fibres running in different directions, and is that coat upon 
which the contraction of the organ depends when it is empty. 
The third is the mucous or internal coat, and is about a line in 
thickness. It presents, when the stomach is contracted to its 
smallest dimensions, a corrugated or wrinkled appearance, 
which disappears as soon as the organ is distended. This coat 
exhibits to the eye somewhat of a mottled appearance ; of a 
reddish complexion, slightly tinged with yellow. Its surface 
resembles velvet, from which the term villous coat has been 
applied to it. In its texture it is soft, loose and easily lacerated. 
It has, opening upon its surface, a multitude of minute orifices, 
which lead to small glands designed to secrete mucous. These 
three coats are connected to each other by the intervention of 
cellular substance, but are separable by maceration and dis- 
section. The stomach is very largely supplied with blood-ves- 
sels, nerves, and absorbents. Indeed the nervous texture of 
the organ is so largely supplied and fully expanded between 
the mucous and muscular coats as to form, apparently, a fourth 
covering, sometimes denominated the nervous coat. 

The digestion of the food in the stomach is performed by 
the action of the gastric juice, a fluid secreted by the mucous 
or internal coat ; or by some small glands seated in this coat, 
and which possesses the extraordinary power of dissolving 
animal and vegetable substances, which are first deprived of 
the principle of life ; but upon living bodies it has no action, 
as shewn by the experiments of Spallanzani and others. For 
example, if the legs and feet of a living frog be thrust down 
into the stomach of a lizard, and be confined in that situation, 
the gastric juice has no action upon them, so long as the frog 
24 



278 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKBBTCTBSS. 

lives ; but if the frog be killed and be replaced in tbis situa- 
tion, they are digested to a pulp in a few hours. The gastric 
fluid has ev^n the power of dissolving the stomach itself when 
the organ is deprived of life ; and consequently in some pe: 
who die suddenly and in a state of full health, the stoma 
found a few hours after death, softened, broken or d 

There are some substances, however, though destitute of 
vitality upon which the gastric juice has no action, or if any, 
it has not the power of converting them into nutriment ; and 
alcohol is one of this number. 

The small intestines, while they form numerous convolutions, 
constitute one continuous tube, extending from the pyloric 
orifice, or right extremity of the stomach, and terminating 
abruptly in the large intestines. This portion of the dige- 
tube gradually diminishes in size as it descends. 

The food having been digested by the stomach and converted 
into chyme, passes out at the pyloric orifice into the small in- 
testines, when the nutritious is separated from the innutritious 
portion, as it mingles with the bile and pancreatic juice ; two 
fluids which are poured into the intestines near their upper 
extremity. The nutritious portion is absorbed by a set o: 
sels denominated lacteals, which open their numerous mouths 
upon the inner surface of the canal. By these it is transported 
under the name of chyle, to the blood-vessels, and there unites 
with the blood in a state prepared to renovate this fluid, and 
render it fit to sustain and nourish the system, and supply the 
waste continually going on ; while the innutritious part of the 
food passes on to the large intestines. 

The large intestines form the lower portion of the digestive 
canal, and though much greater in diameter than the small 
intestines, are far shorter. They form a mere reservoir for the 
innutritious portion of the chyme. The small and large intes- 
• tines together, constitute one continuous tube, which is nearly 
six times the length of the body. Except in two small 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 279 

tions, they have three coats, corresponding with those of the 
stomach, and like that also are supplied with blood-vessels, 
nerves and absorbents. 

Having thus briefly described the anatomical and physiolo- 
gical arrangement of the digestive canal, I will now proceed to 
notice some of the morbid effects of alcoholic drinks upon it, 
as they have been presented to my notice. 

In Plate I. Fig. 1st, we have a representation of the 
internal surface of the stomach in a healthy state, taken from 
an individual who was entirely temperate, which is copied 
from a sketch furnished by Professor Horner, of Philadelphia, 
one of the ablest anatomists of the country or age. The sub- 
ject from which it was originally drawn, came under Profes- 
sor Horner's own observation, and the dissection was made by 
his own hand ; and he says that the individual was not only 
healthy, but remarkably temperate and regular in all his habits ; 
he therefore considers the case invaluable, as furnishing a 
standard of observation. It is of a color slightly reddish, 
tinged with yellow, and exhibits something of a mottled appear- 
ance ; although supplied with a multitude of blood-vessels, 
none of them are so large as to be visible to the naked eye. 
This healthy and natural appearance of the stomach would 
doubtless continue from the period of childhood to that of old 
age, if it were acted upon only by appropriate food and drink. 

In Fig. 2d of the same plate, we have exhibited the inter- 
nal surface of the stomach of the temperate drinker, the man 
who takes his glass of mint sling in the morning, and his 
toddy on going to bed ; or of 'him who takes his two or three 
glasses of Madeira at his dinner. And here the work of 
destruction begins. That beautiful network of blood-vessels 
which was invisible in the healthy stomach, being excited by 
the stimulus of alcohol, becomes dilated and distended with 
blood, visible and distinct. This effect is produced upon the 
well known law of the animal economy, that an irritant applied 



280 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

to a sensitive texture of the body, induces an increased flow of 
blood to the part. The mucous or inner coat of the stomach 
is a sensitive membrane, and is subject to this law. A practi- 
cal illustration of this principle is shown by reference to the 
human eye If a few drops of alcohol or any other irritating 
substance, be brought in contact with the delicate coats of the 
eye, a network of fine vessels which were before invisible, 
become distended with blood and easily seen. If this opera- 
tion be repeated daily, as the temperate drinker takes his 
alcohol, the vessels become habitually increased in size and 
distended with blood. 

It is by this temperate drinking that the appetite of the 
inebriate is first acquired ; for by nature man has no taste or 
desire for alcohol ; it is as unnatural and averse to his consti- 
tution as to that of the horse or the ox ; nor is there any apology 
for its use by man, that does not equally apply to the brute. 

Plate II. Fig. 1st, of this series, represents the stomach 
of the confirmed drunkard ; the man who has become habitu- 
ally accustomed to the use of alcoholic drinks. And here we 
find the blood-vessels of the inner coat, which in the temperate 
drinker were only slightly enlarged, so fully developed as to 
render the most minute branches visible to the eye, like the 
rum blossoms on the drunkard's face ; and this enlargement 
does not depend upon the perpetual presence of alcohol, as in 
the temperate drinker, but it has become so permanent and 
fixed, that they nian^ain their unnatural size even after death ; 
unless indeed the inebriate has for some time previous to this 
event abandoned the use of alcohol, and given nature time to 
restore them to their natural size. In this state, the inebri- 
ate is never easy or satisfied, unless his stomach is excited bv 
the presence of this or some other narcotic poison. Whenever 
these are withheld, he is afflicted with loss of appetite, nausea, 
gnawing pain and a sinking sensation at the stomach, lassi- 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 281 

tude, debility and temporary disturbance of all the functions 
of the body. 

It is under these circumstances, and in this condition of the 
stomach, that the drunkard finds it so difficult to resist the 
cravings of his appetite, and to reform his habits. Difficult 
but not impossible. Thousands thus far sunk to ruin have 
reformed, and thousands are now undergoing the experiment. 
But it is only by total abstinence, that reformation can be 
accomplished. No one may hope to reform by degrees, or to 
be cured by substituting one form of alcohol for that of another. 
So long as he indulges in the smallest degree, so long will his 
propensity to drink be perpetuated, and his stomach exhibit 
traces of disease. 

What takes place in the stomach of the reformed drunkard, 
the individual who abandons the use of all intoxicating drinks ? 
The stomach by that extraordinary power of self-restoration 
with which it is endowed, gradually resumes its natural appear- 
ance. Its engorged blood-vessels, become reduced to their 
original size, and its natural color and healthy sensibility return. 
A few weeks or months, according to the observations I have 
made, will accomplish this renovation; after which the indi- 
vidual has no longer any suffering or desire for alcohol. This 
process, however, is greatly facilitated, and rendered more 
easy to the sufferer, by cupping, blistering and other counter 
irritation over the region of the stomach ; by the use of cool- 
ing medicines and vegetable diet. It is nevertheless true, and 
should ever be borne in mind, that such is the susceptibility of 
the stomach of the reformed drunkard, that a repetition of the 
use of alcohol in the slighted degree, and in any form, revives 
the appetite ; the blood-vessels again become dilated and the 
morbid sensibility of the organ is re-produced. Abstinence, 
therefore, total abstinence, at once and forever, must be the 
pledge of him who means to stand. 

Plate II. Fig. 2d, presents a view of the ulcerated or 



282 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

apthous condition of the drunkard's stomach; a state which 
frequently exists, but is not readily apprehended on account 
of the obscurity of the attendant symptoms. It consists in 
numerous small ulcerations extending over the internal coat, 
and which are usually covered with a white crust, producing 
the apthous appearance. Upon wiping off the crust, the mu- 
cous surface was found broken and covered with small corrod- 
ing sores, of greater or less size and depth, with ragged and 
inflamed edges ; and sometimes the inflammation extends over 
the intervening spaces. These ulcerations are produced by 
the irritating effects of alcoholic drinks. I cannot better give 
you an account of this affection, than by a reference to the 
observations of Dr. Beaumont, a gentleman who has produced 
one of the most rare and interesting works ever published upon 
the powers of the gastric juice and the functions of the stomach. 
You will recollect that while these experiments and observa- 
vations bear with peculiar force upon the subject of alcoholic 
drinks, they were instituted prior to the commencement of the 
temperance enterprise, and were made without the slightest 
reference to this subject. Dr. Beaumont cannot, therefore, be 
suspected of having his mind prejudiced, or of a desire to 
adapt the results of his researches to the opinions of the pre- 
sent time, or to promote the cause for which they are here 
introduced. The following account will explain the occasion 
of his researches, and show the authority upon which his obser- 
vations are based. 

In the year 1822, Alexis St. Martin, a Canadian boy, of 
French descent, aged 18, of robust and healthy constitution, 
received a shot from a musket in the left side, by which the 
integuments, muscles and a part of one rib was carried away, 
and the stomach perforated. In this state he fell into the 
hands of Dr. Beaumont, then a distinguished army surgeon of 
the United States, stationed upon our northern frontier. The 
boy was cured, but the edges of the wound in the stomach 



THE PATHOLOGY OP DRUNKENNESS. 283 

became adherent to the wound in the side of the chest, and the 
opening from without into the stomach remained unclosed ; 
being two and a half inches in circumference ; so that the food 
and drink could only be retained by the use of a tent, and 
subsequently by the protrusion of a fold of the inner coat of 
the stomach. This state of the aperture afforded Dr. Beau- 
mont an opportunity of making important observations and 
experiments upon the digestion of food, and of ascertaining by 
occular inspection, the condition of the interior of the stomach, 
the state of its mucous coat, and the influence of various agents 
upon it, particularly the effect of different kinds of food and 
drink. At length St. Martin was brought to the city of Wash- 
ington, where I had many opportunities of witnessing the Doc- 
tor's experiments, and can testify to the accuracy with which 
they were made and are detailed. Commencing with the 237th 
page of his work, I find the following record : 

" July 28, 9 o'clock a. m. m Weather clear. Wind N. W., 
brisk. Thermometer 66 Q . Stomach empty, not healthy, some 
erythema (inflammation) and apthous patches on the mucous 
surface. St. Martin has been drinking ardent spirits pretty 
freely for eight or ten days past ; complains of no pain, nor 
shows symptoms of any general indisposition ; says he feels 
well and has a good appetite. 

" August 1, 8 o'clock a. M. Examined stomach before eat- 
ing anything ; inner membrane morbid ; considerable erythema 
and some apthous patches on the exposed surface ; secretions 
vitiated ; extracted about half an ounce of gastric juice ; not 
clear and pure as in health ; quite viscid. 

* 'August 2, 8 o'clock a. m. Circumstances and appearances 
very similar to those of yesterday morning. Extracted one 
ounce of gastric fluids, consisting of unusual proportions of 
vitiated mucus, saliva and some bile, tinged slightly with blood, 
appearing to exude from the surface of the erythema and 
apthous patches, which were tenderer and more irritable than 



284 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

usual. St. Martin complains of no sense of pain, symptoms 
of indisposition, or even of impaired appetite. Temperature 
of stomach 101 Q . 

'August 3, 7 o'clock A. M. Inner membrane of stomach 
anusually morbid ; the erythematous appearance more exten- 
sive, and spots more livid than usual ; from the surface of some 
of which exuded small drops of grumous blood ; the apthous 
patches larger and more numerous ; the mucous covering thicker 
than common, and the gastric secretions much more vitiated. 
The gastric fluids extracted this morning were mixed with a 
large proportion of thick ropy mucus, and considerable muco- 
purulent matter, slightly tinged with blood, resembling the 
discharge from the bowels in some cases of chronic dysentery. 
Notwithstanding this diseased appearance of the stomach, no 
very essential aberration of its function was manifested. St. 
Martin complains of no symptoms indicating any general 
derangement of the system, except an uneasy sensation, and a 
tenderness at the pit of the stomach, and some vertigo with 
dimness and yellowness of vision, on stooping down and rising 
again ; has a thin yellowish brown coat on his tongue, and his 
countenance is rather sallow ; pulse uniform and regular ; 
appetite good ; rests quietly and sleeps as well as usual. 

u August 4, 8 o'clock a. m. Stomach empty; less of those 
apthous patches than yesterday; erythematous appearance 
more extensively diffused over the inner coats, and the surface 
inclined to bleed ; secretions vitiated. Extracted about an 
ounce of gastric fluids consisting of ropy mucus, some bile and 
less of the muco-purulent matter than yesterday ; flavor pecu- 
liarly foetid and disagreeable ; alkalescent and insipid ; no 
perceptible acid ; appetite good ; rests well and no indications 
of general disease or indisposition. 

u August 5, 8 o'clock a.m. Stomach empty; coats less 
morbid than yesterday ; apthous patches mostly disappeared ; 
mucous surface more uniform, soft, and nearly of the natural, 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 285 

healthy color ; secretions less vitiated. Extracted two ounces 
of gastric juice, more clear and pure than that taken for four 
or five days last past, and slightly acid, but containing a larger 
proportion of mucus, and more opaque than usual in a healthy 
condition. 

1 ■ August 6, 8 o'clock A. m. Stomach empty; coats clean 
and healthy as usual; secretions less vitiated. Extracted two 
ounces gastric juice, of more natural and healthy appearance, 
with the usual gastric acid flavor; complains of no uneasy sen- 
sations, or the slightest symptom of indisposition; says he 
feels perfectly well, and has a voracious appetite, but not per- 
mitted to^indulge it to satiety. He has been restricted from 
full and confined to low diet, and simple, diluent drinks for the 
last few days, and has not been allowed to taste of any stimu- 
lating liquors, or to indulge in excesses of any kind. 

" Diseased appearances, similar to those mentioned above, 
have frequently .presented themselves in the course of my expe- 
riments and examinations, as the reader will have perceived. 
They have generally, but not always succeeded to some appreci- 
able cause. Improper indulgence in eating and drinking has been 
the most common precursor of these diseased conditions of the 
coats of the stomach. The free use of ardent spirits, wine, 
beer, or any intoxicating liquor, when continued for some days, 
has invariably produced these morbid changes. Eating vora- 
ciously or to excess; swallowing food coarsely masticated or too 
fast; the introduction of solid pieces of meat, suspended by 
cords into the stomach, or of muslin bags of aliment secured 
in the same way, almost invariably produce similar effects if 
repeated a number of times in close succession. 

" These morbid changes and conditions are, however, seldom 
indicated by any ordinary symptoms or particular sensations 
described or complained of unless when in considerable excess, 
or when there have been corresponding symptoms of a general 
affection of the system. They could not, in fact, in most 



286 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

cases, have been anticipated from any external symptoms, and 
their existence was only ascertained by actual occular demon- 
stration. 

"It is interesting to observe to what extent the stomach, 
perhaps the most important organ of the animal system, may 
become diseased without manifesting any external symptoms 
of such disease, or any evident signs of functional aberration. 
Vitiated secretions may also take place, and continue for some 
time without affecting the health in any sensible degree. 

" Extensive active or chronic disease may exist in the mem- 
branous tissues of the stomach and bowels, more frequently 
than has been generally believed; and it is possible that there 
are good grounds for the opinion advanced by a celebrated 
teacher of medicine, that most febrile complaints are the effects 
of gastric and enteric inflammations. In the case of the sub- 
ject of these experiments, inflammation certainly does exist to 
a considerable extent, even in an apparent state of health — 
greater than could have been believed to comport with the, due 
operations of the gastric functions." 

We cannot place too high a value upon the observations and 
experiments of Dr. Beaumont, as they are the- result of occular 
demonstration, an actual looking into the interior of the 
stomach from hour to hour, and from day to day, for a number 
of successive years; accurately noting the different states of 
the organ in health and disease, and the effect of the various 
kinds of food, drinks and other agents upon it. 

I beg you to mark his words. " The free use of ardent 
spirits j wine t beer or any of the intoxicating liquors," says he, 
"when continued for some days has invariably produced these 
morbid changes." 

Here we find that wine and beer produce these morbid 
changes as well as ardent spirits; and well they may, since 
they contain alcohol as their basis, as well as rum, brandy, 
whiskey and gin, though in rather smaller proportion. 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 287 

There is another fact stated by Dr. Beaumont, to which I 
wish to call your special attention. Having spoken of the 
effects of intemperance in producing the morbid appearances 
referred to in the stomach of St. Martin, he says, " These 
morbid changes and conditions are, however, seldom indicated 
by any ordinary symptoms or particular sensations described 
or complained of unless when in considerable excess. They 
could not, in fact, have been anticipated by any external 
symptoms, and their existence was only ascertained by actual 
occular demonstration." 

Here is a most important pathological fact brought to view 
and established by occular demonstration, and one which should 
be ever present to the mind of him who uses alcohol. It is 
this : that the stomach may become extensively deceased from 
the influence of alcoholic drinks, without there being present 
any general constitutional derangement, or other obvious mani- 
festations of its morbid state. This fact is particularly appli- 
cable to the temperate drinker, for in his case the narcotic 
poison of alcohol so blunts and deranges the healthy sensibility 
of the stomach, that it holds out no signal of its sufferings. 
But though the manifestations of disease may be absent, he 
should be aware that morbid changes, extensive and fatal may 
exist; and that while he is sipping his wine, or regaling him- 
self upon his brandy and water, he is laying the foundation of 
a broken constitution, and premature decay and death. And 
this is what doubtless takes place with the temperate drinker, 
and is the true cause of the marked difference between his con- 
stitution, when prostrated by disease, and that of the man who 
leads a life of total abstinence; a difference seen and appre- 
ciated by every practitioner of medicine. In the one case 
disease is easily vanquished, the system reacts, and the patient 
soon recovers his wonted energy — in the other case, if he does 
not sink under the disease, he lingers and every attack leaves 
him in a more broken and enfeebled state; a consequence in- 



288 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

evitable since all the other functions of the body are intimately 
connected with, and dependant upon that of the stomach. 
Whenever this organ fails to perform its office, all the othei 
functions become deranged, and the whole system languishes. 

From a careful observation of this subject during many 
years of practice, I am persuade! that tens of thousands of 
temperate drinkers, die annually of diseases, through which 
the abstemious would pass in safety. 

Plate III. Fig. 1st represents the state of the drunkard's 
stomach after a debauch. It was drawn from the case of one 
who had been for several days in a state of inebriation, but 
who came to his death suddenly from another cause. It shows 
the internal coat of the organ to have been in a state of high 
inflammation, and presents several livid spots, with dark gru- 
mous blood oozing from the surface. 

I have had several opportunities of inspecting the stomach 
under similar circumstances, and I believe this plate presents 
about the ordinary appearance of the organ when excited to a 
state of inflammation by excessive indulgence in the use of 
alcoholic drinks. It has been remarked, that the symptoms 
attendant upon the ulcerated state of the stomach, and especi- 
ally if unaccompanied by much inflammation, are often obscure, 
and such as not to denote much constitutional derangement. 
But in this condition of the organ the whole system suffers. 
There is loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, ardent thirst, pain 
in the head, red eyes, bloated face, coated or red tongue, fre- 
quent pulse and symptomatic fever. These symptoms are more 
or less intense, according to the duration of the debauch, the 
quantity of liquor drank, being modified in some degree, by 
the constitution and habits of the individual. They are, in 
some respects, such as attend the ordinary inflammation of the 
stomach, produced by other causes, and the appropriate treat- 
ment in both is found to be nearly the same. It consists in 
total abstinence from all stimulating drinks, general bleeding, 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 289 

cupping, leeching and blistering over the stomach, cooling and 
mucilaginous drinks, and general perspiration with entire rest. 

The following case so fully confirms the principles here laid 
down, and at the same time furnishes so valuable an admoni- 
tion, that I must beg leave to present you with the outlines of 
its history. 

A gentleman equally distinguished for the powers of his 
mind, and the great influence which he wielded in the counsels 
of the nation, unfortunately acquired in early life, the habit 
of intemperance; but it was not that intemperance which is 
perpetual, it only came over him at distant periods, not oftener 
than once or twice in a year. In the intervals he practiced 
entire abstinence, while at these periods he wholly abandoned 
himself to his propensity, and would continue drinking until 
his stomach was wrought up to a high state of inflammation. I 
was called to attend him in at least twelve of these paroxysms, 
during as many years, and conducted him safely through the 
storm. It was done upon the principle of withholding at once 
all stimulus and allowing the free use of iced water, with 
other cooling drinks, with cupping and blistering over the 
stomach. 

In ten or twelve days he was usually well and able to attend 
to his business. Unfortunately, in his last paroxysm, he came 
under the care of those who advised that he should not aban- 
don his cup at once, but wind off his debauch by degrees. 
The advice was followed, and he fell a victim to the experi- 
ment. He died suddenly, in the vigor of his days, and the 
height of his usefulness; lamented and wept by all who knew 
him. 

No one may hope to be weaned from the love of alcoholic 
drinks, or to be cured of a fit of intoxication by diminishing 
the quantity alone, or by substituting one form of the poison 
for another. As well might the culprit who receives his fifty 
lashes to-day, expect a palliation of his sufferings by the inflic- 
25 



290 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

tion of forty lashes to-morrow, and thirty the day after, or by 
substituting the cow-hide for the cat-of-nine-tails. The prac- 
tice is opposed to all experience, and to every principle of 
man's constitution. 

The stomach is inflamed, and must be cured like inflamma- 
tion produced by other causes, by withholding stimulants, and 
instituting a cooliDg antiphlogistic treatment. 

Fig. 2d of the same plate presents a specimen of the can- 
cerous stomach. It was drawn from the stomach of a gentle- 
man who had for many years followed a seafaring life. He 
was not regarded as intemperate, but used his grog daily, and 
was much in the habit of taking a glass of brandy in the morn- 
ing, undiluted, to excite an appetite for breakfast. At length 
dyspepsia came on, with pain and .a burning sensation in the 
region of the stomach, vomiting of his food an hour or two 
after his meals, followed by extreme emaciation and death. 
Upon examination of the body, the whole of the stomach, ex- 
cept a small portion at the left extremity, was found in a scirrous 
state, its coats thickened to the extent of about two inches, 
and the cavity of the organ so far obliterated as scarcely to 
admit the passage of a probe from the left to the right ex- 
tremity; so that for a considerable time before death, none of 
the nutriment derived from food and drink could have passed 
into the intestines. Near the right extremity of the stomach 
was a cancerous ulcer of the size and appearance represented 
in the drawing. 

Since the foregoing case occurred, two others of the same 
character, and produced by the same case, have fallen under 
my observation. In both these, the one a male and the other 
a female, the stomach was thickened, scirrous and cancerous, 
and so extensively disorganized as not to admit of the passage 
of the chyme out at the pyloric orifice. The prominent symp- 
toms in these two cases also, were excruciating pain, a vomit- 
ing of the food in a half digested state, followed by extreme 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 291 

emaciation. These subjects had indulged freely in the use of 
alcoholic drinks for years, and continued the habit till the 
.stomach would no longer receive it. 

Plate IV. represents the appearance of the stomach of the 
drunkard who dies in a state of mania a potu, or delirium 
tremens. 

The history of the case from which this drawing was made, 
and which occurred in my practice some years since, will illus- 
trate the character of the disease, and the morbid condition of 
the stomach. 

The subject was a man, amiable in disposition, courteous in 
manners, high in public life. By degrees he became intem- 
perate, and although he drank daily, his excessive indulgence 
was confined to paroxysms of greater or less duration. Several 
times during the continuance of these paroxysms, he was thrown 
into a state of delirium tremens, but from which he soon recov- 
ered. At length one of his paroxysms of drinking came upon 
him, which was of longer continuance than usual, and of greater 
severity. For more tnan a ween his mind was entirely de- 
ranged, and it required two persons to confine him to his room. 
He imagined that his nearest friends were his greatest enemies 
and persecutors, and were constantly laying plans for his 
destruction. He fancied that he saw spectres and devils, and 
files of armed soldiers entering his apartment, deadly serpents 
crawling over his bed, and wild beasts ready to devour him. 
There was one individual in particular, a certain man who had 
often won his money at the billiard table, whom he imagined 
he saw grinning and skulking round the chamber, waiting an 
opportunity to rob him of his money. His bodily functions 
became more and more disturbed, accompanied with great 
debility; a cold, profuse, clammy sweat, and small and sinking 
pulse. These symptoms were followed by general spasms, 
which soon closed the scene. 

After death the body was examined. Upon laying open the 



292 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

stomach, it presented the appearance exhibited in the plate. 

I: contained a considerable quantity of dark fluid resembling 

a Minds; the inner surface was covered with a dark 

brown flaky substance, upon removing which, it exhibited 

mark- of having been in a high state of inflammation; some 

appearing of a deep red or mahogany color, and others 

quite black, as if in a state of incipient mortification. It was 

is that the dark flaky matter which lined the inner coat, 

II as that lying loosely in the cavity of the organ, was 

blood which had exuded from the vessels of the inflamed sur- 

and had been acted upon by the gastric juice, converting 

it into the black vomit. 

I have had several opportunities of inspecting the body 
after death of those who have fallen by intemperance in a state 
of delirium tremens; and have found not only the symptoms^ 
a:: :.;Iing the affection, but the morbid appearance upon dis- 
section to be extremely uniform, and my observations fully 
confirm the opinion entertained by most modern pathologists, 
that the disease has its seat originally in the stomach, and that 
the affection of the brain is purely sympathetic and secondary; 
an opinion sustained also by the course found most successful 
in the treatment of the disease. 

I have thus briefly spoken of intemperance as affecting the 
condition of the stomach only; but it should be borne in mind 
that while alcoholic drinks make their first and stongest impres- 
sion here, their morbid effects are not limited to this organ; 
the whole of the intestinal canal participates more or less in 
their influence. The internal coat becomes irritated, inflamed 
and ulcerated, and occasionally affected with those other 
nic changes delineated in the drawings of the stomach. 
Nor are the consequences of intemperance confined to the 
digestive canal alone. The distant parts of the body become 
in time affected also. The liver, the brain, the heart, the 
lungs and the kidneys become the seat of alcoholic influence, 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 293 

an influence which is transmitted to them in two ways. The 
first is upon the principle of sympathy; the second is through 
the medium of the circulation, and the immediate action of 
the alcoholic principle upon the organs as it passes through 
them, mingled with the blood. Both may be illustrated by 
familiar examples. The individual who has become exhausted 
by labor and fasting, finds his muscular power diminished and 
his whole system enfeebled. Upon partaking of his food his 
strength is immediately restored — restored long before his food 
is digested, or any nourishment can have been derived from it. 
This effect is produced by the stimulus of the food upon the 
stomach, which impression is transmitted to all the other 
organs of the body through the medium of the nervous system, 
upon the principle of sympathy. The second, through the 
medium of the circulation, may be shown by two facts. The 
odor of the drunkard's breath, furnishes us with one of the 
earliest indications of intemperance. This is occasioned by the 
exhalation of the alcoholic principle from the bronchial vessels 
and air cells of the lungs; not of pure alcohol, as taken into 
the stomach, but as it has been absorbed and become mingled 
with the blood and subjected to the action of the different 
organs of the body, and not containing any principle which 
contributes to the nourishment or renovation of the system, is 
cast out with other excretions as poisonous and hurtful. Ma- 
gendie long since ascertained by experiment, that diluted alco- 
hol when subjected to the absorbing power of the veins, is 
taken up by them, is mingled with the blood, and afterwards 
passes off by the pulmonary exhalents. The case of a drunk- 
ard is mentioned who used to amuse his comrades by passing 
his breath through a narrow tube and setting it on fire as it 
issued from it. The perspirable matter which passes off from 
the skin, becomes charged with the odor of alcohol in the 
drunkard, and in some cases furnishes evidence of the kind of 
spirit drank. Two cases are related by Dr. McNish, the one 



294 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS 

in a claret and the other in a port drinker, in which the mois- 
ture exhaled from their bodies had a ruddy complexion, simi- 
lar to the wine upon which they had committed their debauch. 
These facts show us that alcoholic drinks are absorbed, mingle 
and circulate with the blood, and therefore act immediately 
upon the different organs of the body. 

It is upon these two principles that alcoholic drinks produce 
their morbid effects upon the different organs. 

The liver. Alcohol in every form and proportion produces 
a strong and speedy effect upon this organ when used inter- 
nally. Its first effect usually is to increase the action of the 
liver, and sometimes to such a degree as to result in inflarnnia- 
tion. Its secretion often becomes changed from a bright yel- 
low to a green or black, and from a thin fluid to a substance 
resembling tar in its consistence ; and this change not unfre- 
quently leads to the formation of billiary calculi, or gall 
stones. There often follows an enlargement of the organ, and 
a chaDge in its structure. Aware of this fact, the poultry 
dealers of England are in the habit of mixing a quant:* 
spirit with the food of their fowls, in order to increas 
of the liver ; that they may be enabled to supply the epicure 
with a greater abundance of that part of the animal which he 
regards as the most delicious. I have met with cases in which 
the liver has become so enlarged from intemperance as to weigh 
from eight to twelve pounds, instead of four or five, its usual 
weight. The inflammation of the organ not unfrequently ter- 
minates in suppuration and the formation of extensive 
The liver sometimes, however, even when it manifests upon 
dissection great organic change in its structure, is found rather 
diminished in volume. This was the case in the person of the 
celebrated tragedian, George Frederick Cook, who died several 
years since in the city of New York. This extraordinary man 
was long distingished for the profligacy of his life, as well ae 
native vigor of his mind and body. At the time of his death, 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 295 

his body was opened by Dr. Hosack, who found that the liver, 
while it was rather diminished in size, was in a state of indura- 
tion, and surprisingly hard, so as to make considerable resist- 
ance to the knife ; and it was of a lighter color than natural. 
The whole substance of the organ was studded with tubercles, 
and the blood vessels, which are numerous and large in the 
healthy state, were nearly obliterated ; shewing that the circu- 
lation had nearly ceased long before death. I have met with 
several cases in the course of my dissections in which the liver 
had become shriveled and indurated ; its blood vessels dimin- 
ished and the organ greatly changed in its structure ; the evi- 
dent consequence of long continued habits of intemperance. 

The brain. This organ also suffers from intemperance. 
Inflammation, and engorgement are frequent consequences of 
the use of alcoholic drinks, and may take place at the time of 
a debauch, or arise sometime afterwards, during the stage of 
debility from a loss of the healthy balance of action in the 
system. Inflammation of the organ, when it is acute, is usu- 
ally attended by furious delirium and other indications of high 
cerebral excitement. It may arise from sympathy with an 
inflamed or irritated stomach, or it may take place from the 
immediate action of alcohol upon it as it is transfused into the 
system. In the following case the affection of the brain seems 
to have arisen from the latter cause. A man was taken up 
dead in the streets of London, soon after having drank a quart 
of gin upon a wager. He was carried to the "Westminster Hos- 
pital and dissected. In the ventricles of the brain there was. 
found a considerable quantity of limpid fluid, distinctly impreg- 
nated with gin, sensible to the taste, the smell, and to the test 
of inflammability. The liquid was supposed to be about one 
third gin. 

Dr. Armstrong, an eminent physician of England, who pos- 
sessed ample opportunities for investigating this subject, says 
that he has found the free use of intoxicating liquors, a fre- 



296 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

quent cause of chronic inflammation and engorgement of the 
brain and its membranes. 

It is a fact familiar to anatomists, that alcohol has the effeet 
of hardening the brain and other organs which contain albumen, 
when subjected to its action ; and it is a common practice to 
immerse the brain in ardent spirit for a few days, in order to 
render it firmer for dissection ; and upon examining the brain 
after death, of such as have long been accustomed to the use 
of ardent spirit, it is said that the organ is generally found 
harder and less elastic and yielding, than in temperate persons. 

The heart. It has generally been supposed that the heart is 
less frequently affected by intemperance than most of the other 
vital organs ; but from several cases which have fallen under 
my observation, and from the fact that it sympathises strongly 
with the stomach, and is thrown into a state of unnatural 
excitement by the use of alcoholic drinks, the very effect pro- 
duced by the violent agitation of the passions, the influence 
of which upon this organ is found so injurious, I am inclined 
to think that it seldom escapes uninjured in the habitual 
drunkard. 

The following case came under my notice several winters 
since. A large, athletic man, long accustomed to the use of 
ardent spirit, on drinking a glass of raw whiskey dropped 
instantly dead. On carefully dissecting the body, no ade- 
quate cause of the sudden cessation of life could be found in 
any part except the heart. This organ was free from blood, 
hard and firmly contracted, as if affected by spasm. 

A few years since I saw an individual while engaged in pub- 
lic debate, drop instantly dead from an affection of the heart, 
being at the time highly stimulated by alcohol, and under a 
strong excitement of his passions. I am convinced that many 
of those cases of sudden death which take place with intemper- 
ate persons, are the result of spasmodic action of the heart from 
sympathy with the stomach, or some other part of the system. 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 297 

The use of ardent spirit no doubt tends to produce an enlarge- 
ment of the organ, promotes the ossification of its valves, as 
well as the development of other organic affections. 

The lungs. Respiration in the inebriate is generally op- 
pressed and laborious, especially after eating or violent exer- 
cise ; and he is teased with a cough attended by copious ex- 
pectoration in the morning, and especially after his recovery 
from a fit of intoxication ; and these symptoms go on increas- 
ing, and, unless arrested in their progress, often terminate in 
fatal bronchitis and consumption. 

This affection of the lungs is produced in two ways : first, 
by the immediate action of the alcoholic principle upon the 
highly sensitive membrane which lines the trachea, bronchial 
vessels and air cells of the lungs, as it is poured out by the 
exhalents ; and second, by the sympathy which is called into 
action between the lungs and other organs, already in a state 
of disease, and more especially that of the stomach and liver. 

I have met with meny cases in the course of my practice, of 
cough and difficult breathing, which could be relieved only by 
regulating the functions of the stomach, and which soon yielded 
on the patient's ceasing to irritate this organ with ardent spirit. 
I have found the liver still more frequently the source of this 
affection, and on restoring the organ to its healthy condition 
by laying aside the use of alcoholic drinks, all the pulmonary 
symptoms have subsided. 

On examining the lungs of the drunkard after death, they 
are frequently found adhering to the walls of the chest hepa- 
tized, or affected with tubercles. 

The kidneys. These organs and others immediately asso- 
ciated with them, are seldom found in a healthy state after 
death in the inebriate ; and the use of alcoholic drinks, even 
in a temperate degree, lead to some of the most harassing and 
fatal affections to be found in the whole catalogue of diseases. 
But though an important subject, and upon which much might 



298 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

be said in reference to intemperance, I pass on to notice an 
affection, which, though common, seems scarcely to have 
attracted the attention of those who have written upon the 
effects of alcoholic drinks. It is, Paralysis of the lower 
extremities ; but not that paralysis which takes place suddenly 
from an affection of the brain, or spinal marrow, but a gradual 
diminution of the power of sensation and of motion. Several 
of these cases have occurred to me within the last twenty 
years, three of which I will state. 

Tho first was in an active business man of forty-five, who 
gradually acquired the habit of tippling, though he never drank 
to intoxication. His practice was to take small quantities of 
brandy, gin, wine, &c. at short intervals. He at length began 
to complain of debility, a sense of numbness in his lower limbs, 
and an inability to walk with his accustomed activity. 1 hese 
symptoms gradually increased, and were soon followed by other 
mortifying indications of imbecility. The complaint increased 
till he could neither walk nor stand, and for months before his 
death, he was lifted from his bed to his chair. Several times 
during the progress of the case he partially recovered, but it 
was only in proportion as he suspended the use of alcoholic 
drinks. 

' Upon examination after death, the mucous coat of his stom- 
ach was found in a state of irritation, such as is usually met 
with in the case of the confirmed drunkard, and as represented 
in the second plate, figure first. The small intestines through 
the greater part of their extent, seemed to have participated in 
the irritation of the" stomach. 

The second case was that of a highly respectable man, who 
made shipwreck of fair prospects and a good character, by con- 
tracting the habits of intemperance upon entering public life. 
I was frequently called to attend him, on account of indisposi- 
tion produced by paroxysms of inebriation, and yet so assidu- 
ously did he conceal his intemperance, that it was long before 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 299 

any one but myself suspected the cause. He seldom drank any 
ardent spirit, but kept bis demijohn of old Madeira, which he 
used profusely. He first complained of weakness and want of 
sensibility in the lower extremities, and an inability to walk, 
especially to ascend long flights of steps. Upon a full repre- 
sentation of his situation, and the consequences that must 
ensue, he was induced to abandon his wine, and almost imme- 
diately recovered all his powers; but upon returning to it 
sometime afterwards, he relapsed into all his former weakness, 
and if now living is lost to his family and country. 

The third case is that of a Mr. , a man of thirty, of 

fine, robust constitution. He gradually acquired the habit of 
tippling, but it was not upon ardent spirit. He was never 
drunk, and no one suspected him of intemperance but his 
family. He had not exactly the drunkard's breath, nor much 
of his demeanor or aspect. He consulted me several times on. 
account of a numbness and loss of power in his lower limbs. 
It was not for a considerable time that I came at the real cause 
of the difficulty, so carefully did he conceal his habits. At 
length I discovered that he kept in his grocery a pipe of wine 
for his own use, of which he drank frequently through the day, 
and would often visit his store at an early hour in the morning 
and late at night to renew his potations. I informed him that 
wine was the cause of all his complaints, upon which he aban- 
doned the traffic and his habit of drinking together. His limbs 
almost immediately regained their accustomed energy. He is 
now, after six years, in good health and a sober man. 

But time would fail me, were T to attempt an account of half 
the pathology of drunkenness. Dyspepsia, jaundice, emacia- 
tion, corpulence, dropsy, ulcers, rheumatism, gout, tremors, 
palpitation, hysteria, epilepsy, palsy, lethargy, apoplexy, melan- 
choly, madness, delirium tremens and premature old age, com- 
pose but a small part of the catalogue of diseases produced by 
alcoholic drinks. Indeed, there is scarcely a morbid affection 



300 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

to which the human body is liable, that has not, in one way or 
another, been produced by them ; there is not a disease but 
they have aggravated, nor a predisposition to disease which 
they have not called into action ; and although their effects 
are in some degree modified by age and temperament, by habit 
and occupation, by climate and season of the year, and even 
by the intoxicating agent itself ; yet the general and ultimate 
consequences are the same. 

But I pass on to notice one state of the system produced by 
alcoholic drinks, too important and interesting to leave unexa- 
mined. It is that predisposition to disease and death which so 
strongly characterizes the drunkard in every situation of life. 

It is unquestionably true, that many of the surrounding 
objects in nature are constantly tending to man's destruction. 
The excess of heat and cold, humidity and dryness, noxious 
exhalations from the earth, the floating atoms in the atmos- 
phere, the poisonous vapors from decomposed animal and vege- 
table matter, with many other invisible agents, are exerting 
their deadly influence ; and were it not that every part of his 
system is endowed with a self-preserving power, a principle of 
excitability, or in other words, a vital principle, the operations 
of the economy would cease, and a dissolution of his organic 
structure take place. But this principle being implanted in 
the system, reaction takes place, and thereby a vigorous contest 
is maintained with the warring elements without, as well as 
with the principle of decay within. 

It is thus that man is enabled to endure from year to year, 
the toils and fatigues of life, the variations of heat and cold, 
and the vicissitudes of the seasons — that he is enabled to 
traverse every region of the globe, and to live with almost 
equal ease under the equator, and in the frozen regions of the 
north. It is by this power that all his functions are performed 
from the commencement to the close of life. 

The principle of excitability exists in the highest degree in 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 301 

the infant, and diminishes at every succeeding period of life , 
and if man is not cut down by disease or violence, he struggles 
on, and finally dies a natural death ; a death occasioned by the 
exhaustion of the principle of excitability. In order to prevent 
the too rapid exhaustion of this principle, nature has especially 
provided for its restoration by establishing a period of sleep. 
After being awake for sixteen or eighteen hours, a sensation 
of fatigue ensues, and all the functions are performed with 
diminished precision and energy. Locomotion becomes feeble 
and tottering, the voice harsh, the intellect obtuse and power- 
less, and all the senses blunted* In this state the individual 
anxiously retires from the light, and from the noise and bustle 
of business, seeks that position which requires the least effort 
to sustain it, and abandons himself to rest. The will ceases 
to act, and he loses in succession all the senses ; the muscles 
unbend themselves and permit the limbs to fall into the most 
easy, and natural position ; digestion, respiration, circulation* 
secretion, and the other functions, go on with diminished power 
and activity ; and consequently the wasted excitability is 
gradually restored. After a repose of six or eight hours, this 
principle becomes accumulated to its full measure, and the 
individual awakes aud finds his system invigorated and re- 
freshed His muscular power is augmented, his senses are 
acute and discriminating, his intellect active and eager for 
labor, and all his functions move on with renewed energy. 
But if the stomach be oppressed by food, or the system excited 
by stimulating drinks, the sleep, though it may be profound, 
is never tranquil and refreshing. 

The system being raised to a state of feverish excitement, 
and its healthy balance disturbed, its exhausted excitability is 
not restored. The individual awakes, but finds himself fatigued 
rather than invigorated. His muscles are relaxed, his senses 
obtuse, his intellect impaired, and his whole system disordered; 
and it is not till he is again under the influence of food and 
26 



302 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

stimulus that he is fit for the occupations of life. And thus 
he loses the benefits of this wise provision of repose designed 
for his own preservation. 

Nothing, probably, tends more powerfully to produce pre- 
mature old age than disturbed and unrefreshing sleep. 

It is also true, that artificial stimulus, in whatever way 
applied, tends constantly to exhaust the principle of excitability 
of the system, and this in proportion to its intensity, and the 
freedom with which it is applied. 

But there is still another principle on which the use of 
alcohol predisposes the drunkard to disease and death. It 
acts on the blood, impairs its vitality, deprives it of its red 
color, and thereby renders it unfit to stimulate the heart and 
other organs through which it circulates; unfit, also, to supply 
the materials for the different secretions, and to renovate the 
different tissues of the body, as well as to sustain the energy 
of the brain; offices which it can perform only while it retains 
the vermillion color and other arterial properties. The blood 
of the drunkard is several shades darker in its color than that 
of temperate persons, and also coagulates less readily and 
firmly, and is loaded with serum; appearances which indicate 
that it has exchanged its arterial properties for those of venous 
blood. This is the cause of the livid complexion of the ine- 
briate, which so strongly marks him in the advanced stage of 
intemperance. Hence, too, all the functions of his body are 
sluggish, irregular, and the whole system loses its tone and its 
energy. If alcohol, when taken into the system, exhausts the 
vital principle of the solids, it destroys the vital principle of 
the blood also, and if taken in large quantities produces sud- 
den death; in which case the blood, as in death produced by 
lightning, by opium, or by violent and long continued exertion, 
does not coagulate. 

The principles laid down are plain, and of easy application 
to the case before us. 



THE PATHOLOGY OP DRUNKENNESS. 303 

The inebriate having, by the habitual use of alcoholic drinks 
exhausted to greater or less extent the principle of excitability 
in the solids, the power of reaction, and the blood having be- 
come incapable of performing its offices also, he is alike pre- 
disposed to every disease, and rendered liable to the inroads of 
every invading foe. So far, therefore, from protecting the 
system against disease, intemperance ever constitutes one of its 
strongest predisposing causes. 

Superadded to this, whenever disease does lay its grasp upon 
the drunkard, the powers of life being already enfeebled by the 
stimulus of alcohol, he unexpectedly sinks in the contest, but 
too frequently to the mortification of his physician, and the 
surprise and grief of his friends. Indeed, inebriation so 
enfeebles the powers of life, so modifies the character of dis- 
ease, and so changes the operation of medical agents, that 
unless the young physician has studied thoroughly the consti- 
tution of the drunkard, he has but partially learned his pro- 
fession, and is not fit for a practitioner of the present age. 

These are the reasons why the drunkard dies so easily, and 
from such slight causes. 

A sudden cold, a pleurisy, a fever, a fractured limb, or a 
slight wound of the skin, is often more than his shattered 
powers can endure. Even a little excess of exertion, an ex- 
posure to heat or cold, a hearty repast or slight emotion of the 
mind, not unfrequently extinguishes the small remains of the 
vital principle. 

That fearful epidemic, the Asiatic Cholera, which so lately 
spread consternation and dismay over more than half the civil- 
ized world, wherever it appeared, singled out the intemperate 
for its victims, in a marked and most extraordinary manner. 
If in some instances the sober and temperate were borne off in 
the common ruin, it was seldom, except when some powerful 
predisposing or exciting cause, overwhelmed the system. 

I have thus endeavored, according to your request, to furnish 



304 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

a few remarks upon the pathology of drunkenness. The sketch 
I have given is brief and imperfect, and forms a mere outline 
of this important subject, but so far as it extends, it is based 
upon facts, which I have no fear, will bear the test of future 
observation. You will perceive that a few passages are ex- 
tracted from my address, already before the public, but they 
are here introduced as applicable to the occasion. 

Allow me in conclusion, to congratulate you and your co- 
laborers, upon the good already achieved by your efforts. Mul- 
titudes have been emancipated from a state of the most 
degrading servitude; disease has been arrested in its ravages; 
enterprise brought back in a thousand instances, fresh and 
vigorous to the great purposes of the age; banished happiness 
restored to the social circle; and new worshippers called around 
the altar of God. For the universal consummation of such 
blessings, every philanthropist will pray, and every patriot 
extend the helping hand, 

The following notice of the first volume of the Enquirer, 
appeared in the Albany Argus about twenty-five years since, 
over the signature of I. That noble Christian gentleman and 
patriot, whose memorable words "IF ANY ONE ATTEMPTS 
TO HAUL DOWN THE AMERICAN FLAG, SHOOT 
HIM ON THE SPOT," and which words sent a thrill of 
patriotism through the honest American heart, at the opening 
hour of the great rebellion, is the writer of the following — Ed. 

REVIEW OF ENQUIRER — No. 1, Vol. I, by I. 

The publication which bears the above title, is in quarto 
form containing forty-eight pages, and consists of a series of 
letters to professing Christians, by Edward C. Delavan. on the 
kind of wine proper to be used at the Lord's Supper, and a 
copious appendix. It was published in this city on the 1st 
inst., and, appears by a notice on the first page, is to be issued 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 305 

quarterly. The object of this article is not to take part in 
the important question, which it discusses, but to refer to 
some of the principal communications which it contains, and 
the positions taken by the writers. 

The first fourteen pages are occupied by Mr. Delavan's let- 
ters, the object of which is to show that the wines in ordinary 
use in this country are highly drugged and adulterated, and 
are not suitable for the communion service; that they are not, 
in fact, the Fruit of the Vine, which the Divine institutor of 
the sacrament ordained, and that a large portion of those 
wines are manufactured from whiskey, and contain not a single 
drop of the juice of the grape. The distinction made by 3Ir. 
Delavan, and those who sustain his positions, is that the wine 
used by the Saviour was unfermented and without the alcoholic 
properties generated by the process of fermentation; and he 
asserts that this distinction is indispensable to reconcile pas- 
sages of scripture, condemning wine on the one hand and com- 
mending it on the other, and which can only be rendered 
harmonious by the supposition that two kinds of wine, the 
fermented and the unfermented, were in use in the time of our 
Saviour. On the testimony adduced in support of this position 
it is not the design of this article to comment. It must speak 
for itself. It is presented with great candor, and, indeed, all 
the letters of Mr. Delavan are written in a spirit which is 
entirely unobjectionable, and which is calculated to disarm all 
hostility, even on the part of those who dissent from his posi- 
tions. 

Among the articles contained in the appendix, will be found 
a lecture by Dr. Nott, the President of Union College, written 
in his clear and forcible style, and which it appears is one of a 
series delivered at Schenectady three years ago. Dr. Nott 
takes decided ground in favor of the use of unfermented wine, 
upon the general reasonings referred to by Mr. D., and throws 
a flood of light upon the whole subject. Chancellor Walworth, 



306 THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 

in a letter which is given in the appendix, concurs in the gen- 
eral view of the subject taken by those who are in favor of 
substituting the unfermented wine in the communion service 
for the fermented. There are also letters to the same purport 
from a number of distinguished clergymen in the United States. 
The Enquirer professes to aim at a free discussion of the sub- 
ject, and the sincerity of the profession is manifest in the fact 
that it contains letters on the other side of the question, by 
gentlemen who dissent, to a greater or less extent, from Mr. 
Delavan's opinions. 

One of the most interesting portions of the paper is an Essay 
on the Pathology of Drunkenness, by Dr. Thomas Sewall, pro- 
fessor of pathology and the practice of medicine in the Colum- 
bian College, District of Columbia. This essay is illustrated 
by several drawings of the stomach of the drunkard, exhibit- 
ing it in a healthy state and in the various stages of disease 
produced by the use of alcoholic stimulants. It is certainly a 
very interesting as well as remarkable paper, and it is put forth 
with the guaranty of the author's name and professional char- 
acter in favor of the truth of its statements. 

A few facts appear by the testimony produced, which in 
justice to those concerned, ought to be stated in this article. 

1. The discussion was originally forced upon them by the 
opponents of the total abstinence principle, who asserted that 
as the Saviour miraculously made and drunk intoxicating wine, 
it was a reproach to him to recommend entire abstinence from 
it. This led to the inquiry whether there was not two kinds 
of wine in use, one intoxicating and the other not so; and 
whether the kind consecrated by him to religious uses, was not 
unfermented and free from the intoxicating principle. 

2. That the course of Mr. Delavan and his associates has 
been uniform; that they have never advocated the exclusion 
of wine from the communion, but merely the use of the unfer- 
mented juice of the grape. 



THE PATHOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. 807 

3. That the pure juice of the grape, without fermentation, 
can be obtained in sufficient quantity for the purpose; and 

4. That the question at issue is between the pure juice of 
the grape, and intoxicating or adulterated wines, a large por- 
tion of which are the product of distillation. 

Finally, the Enquirer asks a candid examination of the sub- 
ject and a fair comparison of opinions formed with delibera- 
tion and in a spirit of honest inquiry; believing that on all 
subjects, and on questions of morals especially, truth has 
nothing to fear from calm and enlightened discussion, and that 
it is only error which shrinks from investigation as a test, 
which it cannot endure. — [Alb. Argus. I. 



THE EXPEDIENCY DOCTRINE EXPLAINED AND 
VINDICATED. 

The doctrine of expediency, when rightly applied, has its origin from 
above ; when wrongfully applied, its origin is from below. It is always 
expedient to do right — never expedient to do wrong. St. Paul would not 
eat meat, for reasous stated by himself. The meat he was willing to aban- 
don for the good of others, was good health-preserving meat, not putrid, 
rotten, life -destroying meat. The law of Christian expediency could not 
apply to this kind of meat to be given up for the good of others, could it? 
The great Apostle was willing to give up wine, good wine, the wine direct 
from the cluster and the press, breaking out from the vat, and so preserved, 
as a healthful drink and a medicine, as grapes are for persons in health and 
in sickness; and the existence of this kind of wine was as well known when 
St. Paul wrote, as the wine termed by God, and without any qualification 
as to quantity — (i a mocker, '* biting like a serpent and stinging like an 
adder, and not to be looked upon even; and why so ? because alcohol, a 
deadly poison, through the after process of fermentation, had been produced. 
Could St. Paul, in his willingness to abandon wine, have had any reference 
to the kind of wine containing alcohol, a poison which has occasioned all the 
drunkenness in the world.? I think not. Space will not permit me to 
enlarge, but in closing this last page of this little Temperance scrap-book, I 
would make an earnest appeal to the clergy of all denominations, as well as 
the benevolent physician — the former for the sake of the soul, the latter for 
the body's sake, to take this subject into earnest and speedy consideration 
—Ed. 



REMAEKS ON DR. SEW ALL'S LETTER. 



It appears to us quite impossible for an unprejudiced mind to rise from 
the perusal of the foregoing admirable letter of Dr. Sewall without a deep 
conviction that one of the greatest delusions that has ever held possession 
of the human mind, causing an amount of wretchedness and loss of wealth 
which the most fertile imagination finds it impossible to estimate, h 
about to be dissipated, and we trust forever. Providence, in the case of 
Alexis St. Martin, provided a subject to establish beyond all contradiction 
the great principle on which the Temperance cause is now based, which is, 
that intoxicating drinks are never beneficial, but always injurious to persons in health. 
All can now understand why wine, intoxicating wine, is declared by God 
to be " a mocker / ' it will be seen it at once disturbs the healthful action 
of the stomach, and consequently the mind feels the injurious influence 
We recollect when engaged in business, and while drinking two or three 
glasses of intoxicating wine at dinner, the bargains made in the afternoon 
were frequently disapproved the following morning ; at the time we were 
much mortified at this unaccountable vacillation of mind within a few 
hours ; the reason never occurred to us until we abandoned the use of 
wine altogether. We then found that we had been " mocked," and 
that our judgment had been impaired in proportion to the alcohol we had 
indulged in. We found, too, that after drinking a glass or two of wine 
at dinner on the Sabbath, we listened to the afternoon service with very 
different feelings than to the morning service, and often accused the 
preacher of stupidity, when it was our own stupidity occasioned by that 
wine which " is a mocker." Until we abandoned the use of this " mock- 
er," we could never account for this difference of feeling between the 
morning and afternoon services of the sanctuary ; we then made the dis- 
covery that we were under the influence of the ' ' mocker' ' in the house 
of God. For all the sin we have committed, in times long passed, through 
ignorance of the true nature of all intoxicating liquors, we have asked, and 
we trust we have obtained, pardon. 

A friend recently informed us that he had frequently watched the in- 
fluence of a single glass of wine at dinner-parties on the eye, and that 
ne had invariably noticed a change not only in the expression, but in 
the pupil. 

Doctor Sewall has our warmest thanks for furnishing his important let- 
ter, as also for the drawings of the human stomach. We believe all 



REMARKS ON DR. SEWALL's LETTER. 309 

coming generations will hail him as a great public benefactor. "We are 
informed that it is the first time the human stomach has been thus ex- 
hibited, through all its changes, from the use of alcohol. May God in 
his mercy bless the effort made, we well know, under pressing professional 
duties and ill health ; may it serve to arrest the temperate drinker in his 
dangerous course ; may it bring to a full stand the poor diseased drunk- 
ard, and induce him to flee at once to Total Abstinence from all that can 
intoxicate — and in his case, as well at the communion table as a medi- 
cine. We trust the press, now scattering its hundreds of millions of sheets 
yearly, will sound the alarm, and will not be backward in proclaiming 
the truth now so clearly established by science, founded on the Word of 
God ; and may the Church rejoice at these developments; they are open- 
ing a bright day for her, and may she speedily cast out from her sanctuary 
those fabricated and intoxicating substances, and substitute in their place 
the Fruit of the Yine — pure and ^intoxicating ; and may the time soon 
come when not one of her members shall be found making, vending, 
drinking, or giving others to drink, that "mocker," the use of which has 
so long filled the world with pauperism and crime, and kept from entering 
within her walls millions of perishing beings. 

May all classes, from the monarch to the beggar, be admonished ; let 
them remember that God has said, and that, too, without any qualification, 
that "wine [intoxicating] is a mocker," AND THAT SCIENCE CONFIRMS 
IT. Let all know that alcohol, whether in the purest wine or in the 
most disgusting beer or whisky, is a poison — an enemy to health and hap- 
piness ; that to use it in health is a species of suicide — an outrage on one's 
self, on the community, and when its character is understood, as we un- 
derstand it, its use is a sin against the God of heaven. — E. C. D., Enquirer y 
Dec., 1841. 



N"o. 24. 
DOCTORS AND DRINK. 



The London Weekly Record, in its review of the progress of Temperance 
last year, makes the following highly important statement on the use 
of alcoholic stimulants in the medical treatment of typhus fever, etc. : 

"In this connection we may refer to the progress attained during the 
past year on the physiological question. The National Temperance League 
has had no specific conference during the year with the medical profes- 
sion. But it has had communication and free scope for many of its most 
fundamental principles with the physicians and surgeons of Great Britain 
through the medium of the medical journals. Our movement comprises 
not a few members of that learned profession, who can take their stand 
with the most distinguished of their compeers, and some of whom (for 
example, Dr. Munroe, of Hull) have rendered during the past year inval- 
uable service to the good cause by their addresses, lectures, and contribu- 
tions to the medical journals. In this and other ways the subject has got 
into these influential exponents of medical principles and practice, and 
cheering results have been reached both in regard to the properties of al- 
cohol, and the wisdom of its prescription in numerous cases in which it 
has hitherto been freely administered. 

"As regards the properties of alcohol and its effects on the human 
body, the more intelligent of our readers are aware of the light thrown on 
this subject by Dr. Perry twenty-five years ago. His experiments clearly 
proved that alcobol is no sooner received into the system than it is ab- 
sorbed into the circulation and carried to the brain and other organs with 
which it has affinity, where it is discovered unchanged ; but its further 
history was left undetermined. This gave scope for Liebig's theory, that 
it was burned in the blood ; and thus, though not a flesh- former — which, 
from its want of nitrogen, it could not be— it was still a heat-former, or 
supplier of fuel to the vital furnace, and as such entitled to the name 
of food. Twenty years passed, and the theory, plausible in itself, and 
shielded by a great name, enjoyed its day. But the experiments, five or 
six years ago, of Lallemand and his Parisian confreres, by means of the 
bichromate-of- potash test, exploded it to atoms, proving as they did that 



DOCTORS AND DEINK. 



311 



the system expels alcohol unchanged, and does so when taken in minute 
as well as in large doses. Many attempts have since been made to bolster 
up the fallen fortunes of the blue fiend, but to no purpose. The results 
gained by those Parisian investigators, and so ably expounded by Pro- 
fessor Carpenter in the Westminster Review for January, 1861, remain where 
the latter writer then put them, as warranting the conclusion that ' alco- 
hol has no claim whatever to rank among articles of food.' Dr. Edward 
Smith's experiments shortly after confirmed the same conclusion, with the 
remarkable addition that the chromic test detected the eliminated alcohol 
in the perspiration as well as in the breath. Discussion and controversy 
very naturally and most desirably followed ; and this year has been more 
prolific of discussional articles in the medical journals, on the physiology 
of Temperance, than many previous years. The Lancet, with much of a 
mixed complexion, has made many important concessions, which nothing 
could have extorted but the force of truth. The British Medical Journal, 
whose habitual spirit is most fair and candid, contained in September an 
important leader, entitled, ' Is Alcohol Food V in which it openly declares 
that, ■ on the face of it, the teetotalers have, from a scientific point of 
view, the best of the argument.' It then goes on to say that ' our greatest 
and most esteemed authorities' have come to the conclusion ' that alco- 
hol is not food,' but that it is simply ' eliminated as alcohol from the 
body.' ' The body,' adds the writer, ' regards alcohol as a very dangerous 
enemy ; for as soon as ever spirits of wine has found its way into man, his 
eliminating organs, every one of them, are called into operation for the 
very purpose of unlodging the unwelcome stranger/ This is the natural 
and inevitable conclusion. Dr. Anstie, as a last resort, urges the very 
immaterial circumstance, that the whole of the alcohol imbibed has not in 
any case been yet recovered, as the result of elimination . But to this Dr. 
Smith very decisively replies : ' Is there any instance in which a substance 
taken into the body is uniformly in part transferred and in part elim- 
inated ? I believe not. Then, in the absence of this analogy, when we 
show that a portion of alcohol passes off as alcohol, are we not entitled to 
affirm that the whole does so, and the more so that it passes off by every 
outlet of the body, and for many hours, and under all circumstances, and 
always as alcohol V 

" As regards the practical aspects of the medical question, this too, in 
the papers referred to, has been ably and amply discussed. The result has 
been to demolish completely Dr. Todd's plausible doctrine, on which so 
many medical men have long been confidingly acting. In the stand 
made by Dr. Anstie and others for this theory, the ground taken was 
of the most minute and infinitesimal compass. Small doses only were 
contended for, and even these only in certain contingencies, under condi- 
tions so subtile and computations so intricate as to come practically to 



312 DOCTORS AND DRIXK. 

nothing, or worse — for prescription on no better basis than this would be 
very dangerous practice. Thus Dr. Todd's theory became a dissolving 
view, and by this time, we fear, is nowhere. But one of the most im- 
portant results of recent experience in regard to the prescription of alcohol 
is that which appeared in the Lancet of March 12th, 1864, and which may 
here be simply alluded to as capping the climax of practical disproof of the 
claims of alcohol to be freely administered, and that, too, in the case of all 
others in which its prescription has been deemed most unquestionable — the 
case of typhus fever. Dr. Gardner, physician to the Royal Infirmary of Glas- 
gow and Professor of the Practice of Physic in the University of that city, 
brought the matter to the test of extended and comparative experiment. 
The cases treated by him with this view amounted to nearly six hundred 
— a very ample basis from which to deduce conclusions. Of these the 
mortality among the patients who were treated with alcoholic stimulants 
amounted for all ages to 17 J per cent., this being nearly the same as in the 
English hospitals ; whereas among those who were treated with milk 
and other milder substitutes, the mortality fell short of 12 per cent., and 
in the case of young people was less than 1 per cent. He accordingly con- 
cludes that to the young in particular, ' in typhus, and very probably in 
most other fevers, stimulants are not less than actively poisonous and 
destructive, unless administered with the most extreme caution and in 
the most special and critical circumstances.' On these and other grounds 
we have abundant reasons for self-gratulation on the distinct and legible 
mark in our favor which the past year has left on the physiology of Tem- 
perance, and which coming years are sure to bring out in ever bolder 
relief." 







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